Apple purchases broadcast VR company

Apple beefed up its VR capabilities with an acquisition of broadcast specialist NextVR, Bloomberg reported.

The vendor told Bloomberg only that it had completed the purchase as part of a regular strategy of sometimes buying “smaller technology companies”, but said nothing about its plans for the business. NextVR itself noted it is “heading in a new direction”, with its website already shuttered.

No price was given for the acquisition.

NextVR holds major partnerships with the US National Basketball Association and broadcaster Fox Sports, and provided content to VR device makers including Sony, HTC, Lenovo and Oculus, Bloomberg reported.

The company raised $110.5 million dollars from investors to date, $80 million of which came in a second funding round completed in 2016.

In 2019, Apple was tipped to be exploring a move into the AR hardware segment, with a 2022 entry mooted. Mobile World Live