Google has acquired aggregation and summarization startup Wavii for more than $30 million, putting an end to a bidding war with Apple over the firm. Apple reportedly wanted to integrate the company’s technology with its Siri services.
TechCrunch, via MacRumors:
Both Apple and Google were competing for the Seattle-based startup, and Google eventually won. Apple wanted the company, which developed its own aggregation technology and natural summarizaton algorithms, for its Siri division. The 25-person-strong team including founder Adrian Aoun will be moving down from Seattle to join Google’s Knowledge Graph division.
The acquisition comes on the heels of Yahoo’s $30 million purchase of news aggregator Summly, which, similar to Wavii, attempted to summarize news stories.
Wavii’s iOS app works to deliver news and status updates on topics selected by its users and is available free for the iPhone in the App Store. [DIRECT LINK]
