Facebook Acquires Israel's Pebbles Interfaces For Reported $60 Million

New submitter caseylane94 writes: Facebook has acquired virtual reality company Pebbles Interfaces for the sum of $60 million in a bid to keep its cutting edge virtual reality technology out of the hands of competitors. The move parallels Facebook's 2014 acquisition of VR goggle producer Oculus Rift. The resulting virtual reality product is set to hit the shelves around Christmas 2015.

Yeah, Right

[Frosty Piss]

Facebook acquired a company so as to kill them off because it is cheaper for the Big Heavy to buy and kill than compete with the threatening product...

Re:

[Actually, I do RTFA]

That's exactly what the summary says.

And why the US government should get all anti-trust on them.

Re: Yeah, Right

[Anonymous Coward]

What I read:
Facebook sends $60m of US shareholders' IPO cash to Israel.

Re:

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Nah, FB makes money. That $60M was probably generated outside the US. Therefore it cannot* be brought home, and must be spent on foreign acquisitions.

* Of course it can be, companies are just betting if they accumulate enough outside-the-US wealth, they'll get another "bring it home" tax exemption/tax holiday.

Re:

[Billy2600]

I don't completely disagree with going anti-trust on Facebook, but I think it might be a waste of time in this case since there's still competition in the VR space from both Valve/HTC and Sony.

Re:

[Actually, I do RTFA]

You don't need to have a monopoly to have anti-trust actions brought against you.

Re:

[powerlord]

I know this is SlashDot and its not in vogue to bother reading the linked article, but at least try out the actual Headline:

Facebookâ(TM)s Oculus to Pay About $60 Million for Gesture-Control Firm Pebbles

and from the article itself:

...
Pebbles has recently integrated its technology into the virtual-reality headset developed by Facebookâ(TM)s Oculus VR, enabling users to interact with the device via hand and finger gestures. Unlike competing gesture-identification technologies, Pebblesâ(TM) enables users to see images of their own arms and hands in their virtual-reality display. In some other technologies, users canâ(TM)t âoeseeâ their bodies, or only see generic digitally-generated versions. Pebblesâ(TM) technology can show unique features like clothing, scars or items held in oneâ(TM)s hand. ...

This is much more like the guys who figured out how to make the VR "monitor and computer" deciding to buy the guys working on the VR "mouse and keyboard" because they need each other.

Re:

[wardrich86]

Buy 'em out, boys! [vimeocdn.com]

Incorrect release date

[fredzouille]

> The resulting virtual reality product is set to hit the shelves around Christmas 2015.

Not it's for Q1 2016 : https://www.oculus.com/en-us/b... [oculus.com]