Rumor: Could Apple's HDR Photography be from UK developer imsense?

MacRumors Eric Slivka may have unearthed some interesting information about Apple's HDR Photography feature introduced in iOS 4.1.

Based on evidence Eric and MacRumors has collected, it is believed that Apple may have bought Cambridge (UK) based company imsense.

imsense developed a technology they called "eye-fidelity", which found its was in to their iPhone app imphoto, which just like Perfectly Clear was designed to correct the exposure imperfections that is common to iPhone photography.

According to MacRumors and Eric Slivka, imsense was acquired by an undisclosed trade buyer in July 2010, who paid £342,000/$540,000/€412,000 for a minority stake.

A quick check of imsense's online presence reveals that their Flickr stream still exists, whilst the companies website, Facebook, Twitter account and more importantly their iPhone photo app imphoto have all gone.

Eric Slivka has also pointed out that imsense Director of Engineering Alexis Gatt left the company in July 2010, just as the company was being acquired, to become a senior engineer at Apple, adding more fuel and evidence to the rumored acquisition by Apple.

I have emailed imsense CEO Phillip Dewost to get clarification on this rumor, and if/when I receive a reply, I will update this post, so stay tuned.

Source: MacRumors

Update on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 12:48PM by Glyn Evans

UPDATE: MacRumors now has conclusive evidence that Apple has taken ownership of imsense.

MacRumors are now reporting that "according to UK government filings made on September 6th, three of Apple's officers were named directors of imsense as of July 15th, 2010: Gary Wipfler (Treasurer), Betsy Rafael (Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer), and Gene Levoff (Corporate Counsel). Levoff was also installed as imsense's secretary as of July 28th. The appointments of imsense's other directors have also been terminated."

Comments

[Miki]

Oo, definitely some nice sleuthing going on!

[=M=]

Good story, Glyn. That indeed might explain a lot of things, including why both versions of imphoto disappeared and the similarities in photo quality between Apple HDR and imsense.

And I'd thought imphoto went away out of spite because of our reviews of the app....

=M=

[JPA]

It is all here including incontrovertible evidence:

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/09/13/did-apple-acquire-imsense-ltd-for-hdr-capabilities-in-ios-4-1/