Apple Buys “Mobile Assistant” App Maker Siri

Siri, the maker of the self-named voice control app for the iPhone, confirmed on Wednesday that it has been purchased by Apple. Neither company is saying how much the deal was worth, but Siri representatives said it was too good of an offer to pass up.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Siri board member Shawn Carolan commented “The offer from Apple was of a scope and tenor that it was a no-brainer to accept it.”

The Siri app lets users speak commands to their iPhone, such as “Find restaurants near me,” or “Tell my wife I’ll be late,” and it finds restaurants near you, or finds the contact tagged as your wife and sends a message.

Apple is maintaining its usual tight-lipped stance on what it plans to do with Siri, but now that the iPad is shipping and Apple has voice command technology at its finger tips, it seems we might be getting a little closer to the company’s Knowledge Navigator concept.

Apple’s Knowledge Navigator concept

The Siri app is available as a free download at Apple’s iTunes-based App Store.