Los Angeles — Apple continued its push into Google’s ground on Wednesday as it snatched up personal assistant app maker “Siri,” a voice-activated app for the iPhone that allows users to complete complex tasks by using simple voice command, this is its fourth acquisition in five months.
Siri, a start-up based in San Jose, Calif., represents itself as a virtual personal assistant for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. For instance, Siri operates by allowing users to speak commands and queries like “find a table for two at 9 tonight” or “send a taxi to my house”; using GPS and speech-recognition technology, the application translates the commands and uses search algorithms to find answers. For results, Siri worked with several companies, including Citysearch, OpenTable and Taxi Magic.
The move will empower Apple with impressive new voice processing and natural language technologies as it battles for smartphone dominance with Google, developer of the fast-growing Android operating system.
“There is an Apple versus Google element to this,” said Charles Golvin, analyst with Forrester Research. “Apple assessed this technology and wanted to keep it out of the Android world.”
The deal was authorized Tuesday by the Federal Trade Commission. However, terms of the deal were not revealed. Neither Siri nor Apple replied to a request for comment.
Apple’s determination to acquire Siri is likely a response to Google’s recent acquisition of Aardvark, a service that responses user questions by soliciting help from other people around the globe. That said, Apple has yet to comment on the deal. Exactly what it has planned for the company is unknown.
An Apple spokesman, Steve Dowling, declined to comment on the specifics of the Siri deal. “Apple buys smaller companies from time to time but does not comment on products or plans,” he said.
This type of task-oriented mobile computing adapts into the vision of Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive, recently laid out. “On a mobile device, search is not where it is at, not like on the desktop,” he said at the launch of the new iPhone operating system. “People are using apps to get to data on the Internet, not for generalized search.”
Norman Winarsky, vice president of licensing and strategic programs at SRI International, a research lab that helped develop the application, confirmed the sale but declined to elaborate on financial details of the transaction. Winarsky described the sale of Siri, which was released as a mobile app in February, as “a great event for us in terms of our impact on the world.”
Prior to its sale to Apple, Siri collected a total of $24 million from investors, including Menlo Ventures and Li Ka-Shing, a Chinese billionaire who has also invested in Facebook.
Overall, Apple’s shopping spree indicates a stronger desire to rely less on others including Google. Yesterday, the company confirmed it acquired chip designer Intrinsity, which helped design the powerful and efficient A4 chip in the iPad. Before that, it bought ad network Quattro Wireless after Google swooped in and bought Admob, which Apple was eying.
This lends Apple some intelligent technology that it can build into future versions of its iPhone operating system. It also can address some advantages the Android platform has over the iPhone OS.
“This is as much about retaining this good technology away from Google as it is about wanting it for themselves,” Golvin said.