Intel continues its sweep into the consumer wearables market, acquiring Recon Instruments for a reported $175 million.
Recon is big in the sports segment of the augmented reality market, making the tech guts of an Oakley ski visor, as well as its own Snow2 and Jet glasses and the Engage smartphone app.
Intel was an investor in Recon through its Intel Capital wing, and also has a development deal with optics giant Luxottica, owner of the Oakley brand.
The Recon purchase is only the latest in a number of aggressive steps Intel has taken into the wearables market. This is the third customer-facing acquisition in the last year or so; Intel previously outright bought Basis, makers of a popular fitness tracker and purchased a controlling interest in Vuzix, a well-regarded maker of enterprise-grade visors that showed its first consumer product at the ongoing E3 conference.
Intel’s also got a development deal with TAG Heuer and Google (presumably for a smartwatch), and is active in the developer community with its Edison and Curie dev platforms.