According to reports, Apple Inc has acquired a French startup Regaind, several months ago but the news is being released now. Even now, Apple has not announced the acquisition, but in response to a query has neither denied nor confirmed the fact.

However, observers say that’s how the Cupertino headquartered company operates and such small-sized acquisitions are done on the quiet and no noises created. In this particular case, Regaind is said to have received funding to the extent of $500,000.

Searching for synergy, the report says Apple’s interest in Regaind emerges from the latter’s work of analyzing photos. Apple phones already had a feature where photos of a genre or of a particular description can be quickly accessed through the feature. If you have captured an image of sunrise and stored inside your iPhone and wish to recall it, this could be done instantly. This was enabled through the phone working in the background when not in use, during nights or while being charged or if left idle for a while.

The technology created by Regaind is even more sophisticated; with this technology, the phone can run through the photos and if, for example, you have several snaps of your own face, it will select the best one and push it to the top to be applied for any purpose, like for creating a profile and so on. It also includes a feature where duplicate images can be hidden.

If Apple has already used Regaind on its devices, then iOS would have gained the capability to automatically club photos and relate them to particular events or locales and create albums accordingly.

Another facet of Regaind is its ability to scan your face and determine your gender, age and even the state of emotion you are in. Observers are not able to confirm if Apple has already put the newly acquired technology to use, in the phones it released this month. The face ID sensor, for example could be using a mixture of technology that Apple already possessed plus what Regaind brought on board.

Experts are also keen to know how Apple would use the new technology vis-s-vis its avowed policy to protect the privacy of the users of its devices. These may get revealed only at a future date.