JDSU's gesture technology biz grows 8%

<p>JDSU's Santa Rosa-based optical components business grew 8 percent in the fourth quarter, as it rolled out “gesture recognition” technology for home gaming and other computer applications, the company said Wednesday.</p><p>The new technology lets consumers control electronics with the wave of a hand or other body movement — eliminating the need for a hand-held remote control or mouse.</p><p>JDSU has started shipping components to PrimeSense, an Israeli company that makes gesture recognition electronics for TVs, set-top boxes and living room PCs.</p><p>JDSU's Santa Rosa unit is supplying optical filters for the PrimeSense processor, and another JDSU division is providing the diode laser light source.</p><p>The PrimeSense device senses external movements and transmits the data to a TV, computer or other electronic gadget, allowing a person to control it with a gesture.</p><p>Gesture recognition products were only 2 percent of the company's sales in the fourth quarter, but there's strong potential for growth, JDSU chief financial officer Dave Vellequette told Wall Street analysts Wednesday.</p><p>“We're working with a number of companies looking to bring out gesture recognition products,” he said.</p><p>JDSU is opening a manufacturing facility in China to support the business, CEO Tom Waechter said.</p><p>JDSU's Santa Rosa optical business posted $54.6 million in sales for the quarter ended July 3, up 8 percent from the same period last year.</p><p>But division revenue was down 7 percent from the prior quarter, due to slower sales of JDSU's color-shifting pigments, which are used to print currencies of more than 100 countries.</p><p>The color-shifting pigments make it harder for criminals to print counterfeit bills. The technology is also used for product decoration and security features on packages and labels.</p><p>The unit also develops 3-D images for bank card protection and 3-D glasses used for viewing movies such as “Avatar.”</p><p>JDSU has about 540 employees in Santa Rosa, headquarters for its Advanced Optical Technologies business. JDSU acquired the business from Optical Coating Laboratory in 2000. The company is headquartered in Milpitas.</p><p>Companywide, JDSU reported $391 million in revenue for the quarter, up 43 percent from last year, driven largely by sales of its optical testing and network component products.</p><p>It posted earnings of $1.5 million or 1 cent a share, compared to a loss of $64 million or 29 cents a share a year ago.</p><p>JDSU shares fell about 4 percent to $9.85 in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq exchange, after its results fell short of analyst forecasts.</p><h3>Video: JDSU's gesture technology</h3> <div id="flashbanner">Adobe Flash Player seems to be missing..</div> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.jdsu.tv/swfobject.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var so = new SWFObject('http://www.jdsu.tv/jdsuplayer.swf','mpl','470','301','9'); so.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so.addParam('flashvars','source=http://www.jdsu.tv/video/GR_Feature.flv&ConfigFile=http://www.jdsu.tv/video/configv5.xml'); so.addParam('wmode','transparent'); so.write('flashbanner'); </script>