According to a report from February, it was suggested that Basis Science, the maker of the Basis Health Tracker Watch, was shopping around for companies who would be willing to acquire them. At that time it was suggested that Basis was looking at tech giants such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft, but now according to a recent report from TechCrunch, their sources have informed them that Intel was the one who eventually picked them up.
The report claims that the company was acquired by Intel with one of their sources claiming that the deal could be worth $100 million, while another said that it was around $150 million. Either way it is still a lot of money, although we’re not sure what Intel plans to do with the company at the moment.
When it comes to wearable computing, Intel has been trying albeit not directly, but by providing pieces of technology like the Quark processors and the Edison SD-Card sized computer that would undoubtedly fit into a device like a smartwatch. This is versus their competitor, Qualcomm, who has actually released a smartwatch of their own.
However with the acquisition of Basis, Intel could finally have a wearable device of their own where the blueprint has already been laid down with the Health Tracker Watch. We’re not sure if Intel would ever release an Intel-branded smartwatch, but perhaps they might be interested in following in Qualcomm’s footsteps by releasing a reference design.
With rumors suggesting that tech giants such as Apple and Google could be making smartwatches of their own, perhaps this could allow Intel to get ahead of the curve. In any case we’ll be keeping an eye out for an official announcement, so stay tuned. In the meantime we suggest you take it with a grain of salt.
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