Microsoft announced Friday that it has acquired the technology that N-trig develops for the Surface Pro 3 and Surface 3 tablets.
Sources familiar with the deal say the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant paid about $30 million for the technology, though other details have yet to be revealed, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The acquisition follows seven years after Microsoft and N-trig became partners, as Microsoft current owns a 6.08 percent stake in the Israel-based screen technology firm.
N-trig, founded in 1999, is responsible for developing digital pens and chips for touchscreens and employs about 150 people, CNET reported. The company has worked with other hardware firms in the past, including Sony and Lenovo.
Microsoft has been seeing a great deal of success in its Surface division since the Surface Pro 3 debuted in the market last year.
Japanese company Wacom was the original supplier for Surface tech, but N-trig was later become its replacement and was able to win Surface fans over with digital art performance, TechCrunch reported.
"We can't wait to show you what we'll deliver for our Surface Fans in the future," Microsoft said in an official blog post. "Digital pens have a way to go to be as good as pen and paper on some dimensions, and we'll get there. But more importantly, adding the ability to capture and share the work you do with a digital pen opens up possibilities that traditional pen and paper just can't watch. Today's investment is another step that will let us push that innovation forward."
Rumors about a deal between Microsoft and N-trig have been floating around since February, when Israeli financial website Calcalist said such a deal could be worth $200 million.
