Google boots 'official' Siri app from Android Market

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has removed an Android Market application purporting to bring Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Siri voice command technology to devices running the Android mobile operating system.

The Next Web reports that Siri for Android, developed by Official Software, surfaced in Android Market on Dec. 28 and disappeared within a matter of hours, although not before more than 1,000 consumers downloaded the application. Although Siri for Android used Apple's own Siri icon and employed the term "official app" to imply an authorized connection with Siri for iOS, the installed app does not actually replicate Siri functionality but instead loads Google's own Voice Actions software.

The smart money suggests Siri for Android's appropriation of copyrighted Apple names and images triggered its ouster from Android Market, although dozens of other Siri clones remain in the storefront. Google also booted Official Software's Pinterest application, which essentially replicated the fast-growing social network's own mobile website.

Siri, introduced with Apple's iPhone 4S, enables users to employ natural spoken language to access and perform device tasks like mobile search, messaging and contacts. The technology essentially applies search algorithms to translate users' verbal search queries and commands into web searches. Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller has described Siri as an "intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking."

For more:
- read this Next Web article

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