Swedish Compression Tech Maker AlgoTrim Acquired by Apple

Word from the Swedish publication Rapidus is that Apple has purchased AlgoTrim. This is a company that got its start creating algorithms for feature phones and took the natural progression to smartphones. AlgoTrim develops advanced solutions for mobile devices within the fields of data compression, mobile imaging and video, and computer graphics.

AlgoTrim focuses on getting more out of mobile processors while also chasing ever-lower power demands. The digital imaging work that it is doing could be useful to Apple. It could improve the iPhone’s camera capabilities.

AlgoTrim has products for many compression and decompression tasks. They process video in real-time. As for imaging, on its website the company says that it's working on the marriage of computing and image processing.

In typical Apple fashion when it was asked what the plans were behind the acquisition of AlgoTrim, Apple responded by saying, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

According to several reports, this would make the seventh company that Apple has acquired this year. There were a number of startup companies that deal with maps, transit and location, not to mention a semiconductor firm that was acquired recently.

In early 2012, AlgoTrim powered a Photo Album app for Japanese carrier KDDI. This was accomplished through a JPEG processor it created that could improve JPEG processing as much as six times greater than traditional LibJPEG standard processing tech used in Android devices.

AlgoTrim develops software for decoding image formats that include JPEG, PNG, GIF and BMP. Any technology that could make images appear on the screen faster would be a big boon. It would be a coup for Apple if it could be part of iOS.

As is stated on AlgoTrim’s website, "AlgoTrim also provides more advanced imaging solutions such as super resolution and will soon offer other imaging solutions that will bring modern computational photography to mobile devices."

The company is based out of Malmo, Sweden. However, Rapidus reports that AlgoTrim’s co-founder, CEO and head of software development, Anders Holtsberg, recently moved to Silicon Valley.