Facebook has been on a shopping spree of late. It has acquired a number of start-ups in the recent days and we are still to see what is Mark Zuckerberg doing with all these purchases. While he has previously announced his ambitions to focus on the mobile platform, we are yet to see any solid steps towards it, except of course the Facebook Camera app that was recently announced.
Now, it is being reported that Facebook may be planning of buying yet more. This time, it is an Israeli company, Face.com, which has a claim to fame with its facial-recognition technology. The deal, which is said to be under negotiations as of now, is expected to close somewhere between $80 million and $100 million.
It does make sense that Facebook wants to acquire this company. Face.com released Photo Tagger back in 2009 which would automatically tag one’s friends on Facebook based on face recognition of the people in a photo. Such a technology, naturally, is of immense importance to the social network.
Eventually in 2010, Face.com even released an API which was for free so that developers could incorporate its face-recognition technology in their apps online. According to the rumors, Facebook tried to bag the company even back then but due to its low offerings, the deal could not be finalized.
Now, with an expected deal to close at $80 million, it wouldn’t fare bad for either of the two companies. Facebook could eventually couple the technology with its Facebook Camera app to further its photo-sharing services.
Source: Calcalist
Courtesy: CNET
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