Microsoft finally got around to releasing its rival to Siri and Google Now this week and early impressions have been pretty strong. However, TechCrunch reports that Apple isn’t taking Cortana’s challenge lying down and has acquired speech recognition technology company Novauris Technologies to help make Siri better than ever. TechCrunch notes that while “Novauris may not have been a household name… its founders were internationally known speech researchers, and key members while at Dragon Systems, a company known for products like ‘DragonDictate’ and ‘Dragon NaturallySpeaking.'” This connection with Nuance and its Dragon NaturallySpeaking software isn’t at all surprising since Apple used Nuance’s technology to power Siri back when it launched in 2011. Just what the former Novauris team are doing to make Siri better remains a mystery, of course — unlike Google, Facebook and other big tech companies, Apple rarely tips its hand about what it’s really working on.
Apple isn’t taking Cortana’s challenge lying down
Published Apr 3rd, 2014 8:30PM EDT
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Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.
