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Intel acquires wearable display company Recon Instruments

Intel acquires wearable display company Recon Instruments

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Intel has announced that it acquired Recon Instruments, a Canadian company known for making sporty wearable displays. Recon's products will remain on store shelves, and the employees will be added to Intel's burgeoning New Technology Group to help "expand the market for head-mounted displays" — a small market that Google has recently left.

Intel has spent the last year betting hard on wearables, from creating a high-fashion smart cuff to debuting a module at CES that is so small it can fit inside of a coat button. Recon is best known for its wearable winter sports displays, but earlier this spring the company announced the Jet, a brand new version that's purpose-built for runners and bikers. Recon's products aren't cheap, but they work really well and are now probably the best wearable devices in Intel's lineup.

Intel continues its march into the wearable tech space

All these products will remain on store shelves with the Recon branding, according to Josh Walden, senior vice president of Intel’s New Technology Group, who detailed the move in a blog post.

Recon was started in 2008 as a business school project at the University of British Columbia. Its team — fewer than 75 people — will join Intel’s New Devices Group to work on developing "smart device platforms for a broader set of customers and market segments," according to Walden's post.

Correction: This article originally stated that Recon was started at the University of Columbia. The company was started at the University of British Columbia.