Apple buys voice apps developer

Apple on Wednesday purchased Siri, a start-up that recently unveiled an application for the iPhone that allows users to complete complex tasks using simple voice commands. The move will arm Apple with powerful new voice processing and natural language technologies as it battles for smartphone dominance with Google, developer of the fast-growing Android operating system. "There is an Apple versus Google element to this," said Charles Golvin, analyst with Forrester Research. "Apple valued this technology and wanted to keep it out of the Android world." Siri allows users dictate requests into their phones and then delivers results from a choice of websites.