14 DAY TRIAL // Evi, the natural language search service available as a free app for iOS devices, has reportedly been acquired by Amazon. The software is still available on the App Store at the time of writing.
TechCrunch “understands” from unnamed sources that Evi “has been sold to Amazon for $26 million.” The rumor hasn’t been confirmed by any of the parties involved, while the Evi app is still up for grabs on iTunes.
No one would confirm or deny the rumor, which means it’s probably true. Any story with this kind of resonance would have instantly been shot down by Amazon’s PR department, had it been false. The same goes for True Technology, the owners of Evi.
For those who aren’t familiar with the product, Evi is a Siri clone based on a natural language search engine developed in university labs. It’s better at some things compared to Apple’s Siri (which uses Nuance voice recognition technology), but it also falls short in some aspects. However, the two are pretty much the same from a functional standpoint.
Is Amazon making a smartphone? Could be. But, at the same time, the acquisition could simply be to power the company’s range of Kindle Fire tablets. Or maybe a new product altogether, such as a smart watch. Time will tell.