Google aiming at Siri with Clever Sense acquisition
by Steven Mostyn - Dec 14 2011, 17:12
Image: Clever Sense.
Beyond a few teething problems connected to regional accents, the most popular and most impressive feature of Apple’s iPhone 4S handset has been the introduction of Siri voice recognition.
In what appears to be a move to offer up a rival voice recognition platform for Android handsets, online titan Google has this week acquired Clever Sense, the developer of recommendations app Alfred.
Although Alfred presently only points users in the direction of desirable entertainment and leisure services such as restaurants, bars and night spots, it could well be developed to become a more all-encompassing personal assistant.
“Google helps local businesses connect with potential customers, and its worldwide presence can bring the value of Clever Sense to a much larger audience,” commented Clever Sense chief executive Babak Pahlavan in an official statement.
“With Google and Clever Sense working together, our entire team looks forward to building more intelligent, serendipitous and magical services,” he added.
Granted, Alfred is not—at present—a voice recognition platform, it doesn’t analyze and process vocal input, and it doesn’t speak back to users. However, it does provide Google with a foundation to build such a platform upon.
Neither Google nor Clever Sense has disclosed any financial details connected to the acquisition.
Watch this space.
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