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Google buys Clever Sense to compete with Apple's Siri personal assistant
Reported by Dean Wilson on Thursday, December 15 2011 5:05 am
Google has bought Clever Sense, the developer of personal assistant software Alfred, a move that will likely see Android competing directly with Apple's Siri.
Google has bought Clever Sense, the developer of personal assistant software Alfred, a move that will likely see Android competing directly with Apple's Siri.
Alfred is a free mobile app for Android and iOS built on the Clever Sense Platform. It acts very similary to Siri in that it can find places, such as restaurants and shops, in the real world and learns more about user taste over time, becoming more personalised and more accurate.
The software features a score based on how good it is at making a match, and it also provides reviews, directions, and other things you would expect from a personal assistant.
Google's decision to buy Clever Sense is clearly a reaction to Siri, one of the selling points of the iPhone 4S. Alfred is not quite as broad in scope as Siri, but it shows great potential for development under Google, which could roll out the software as a standard feature in the next version of Android – while pulling support for it from iOS.
“The journey has been nothing short of incredible,” said Babak Pahlavan, co-founder and CEO of Clever Sense. “Our vision has only become bigger, and our commitment stronger. With Google and Clever Sense working together, our entire team looks forward to building more intelligent, serendipitous and magical services!”
The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
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