Apple Buys Personal Assistant App Cue For $35 Million
Apple has reportedly made another purchase that involves a small company that is behind the application known as Cue. What this app does is somewhat comparable to that of Google Now or the new features of Notification Center’s “contextual notifications” in that it would serve up information as it became relevant to either where you were, or where you were going.
Reports are that Apple paid around $35 to $45 million for the company, but TechCrunch is reporting that the number could actually be between $50 and $60 million. Cue told its users this past Tuesday that the service was shutting down, and now we know why.
No one is sure, of course, how Apple will play to use this, but it can of course be assumed that Siri integration may be on the table. Either that, or more in depth Notification Center contextual notifications could be coming as well.
Personal assistant apps and services, such as Google Now, seem to be the next big thing in terms of software improvements, which seemed to be kicked off by Apple’s release of Siri alongside the iPhone 4s and iOS 5.
I wouldn’t mind something Apple-made that works along the same lines that Google Now does, but we will just have to wait and see if anything becomes of this in the near or far future.
What do you think? What do you want Apple to do with it? Anything specific you hope for? Let us know in the comments,