Siri is an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator which works as an application for Apple's iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services. Apple claims that the software adapts to the user's individual preferences over time and personalizes results, and performing tasks such as finding recommendations for nearby restaurants, or getting directions.
Siri was originally introduced as an iOS application available in the App Store by Siri, Inc., which was acquired by Apple on April 28, 2010. Siri, Inc. had announced that their software would be available for BlackBerry and for Android-powered phones, but all development efforts for non-Apple platforms were cancelled after the acquisition by Apple.
Siri, Inc. was founded in 2007 by Dag Kittlaus (CEO), Adam Cheyer (VP Engineering), and Tom Gruber (CTO/VP Design), together with Norman Winarsky from SRI International's venture group, and is named after SRI (although Kittlaus claims he wanted to name the daughter he never had "Siri", Norwegian for "beautiful woman who leads you to victory", he cites as primary "the fact that [it] is easy to spell [and] easy to say". On October 13, 2008, Siri announced it had raised an $8.5 million Series A financing round, led by Menlo Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures In November 2009, Siri raised a $15.5 million Series B financing round from the same investors as in their previous round, but led by Hong-Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing. Dag Kittlaus left his position as CEO of Siri at Apple after the launch of the iPhone 4S.[11]
