14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just confirmed that it purchased Android and iOS keyboard maker SwiftKey for an undisclosed amount of money, with the application to soon be integrated with the company’s Word Flow technology available on Windows Phone.
Details are missing from Microsoft’s announcement, but previous reports indicated that Microsoft spent a total of $250 million (€229 million) on the takeover.
Harry Shum, Executive Vice President, Technology and Research, has revealed that all company employees will join Microsoft in an effort to merge the two keyboard applications and create a single one that would seamlessly work across the devices.
Word Flow integration
Recently, Microsoft has brought Word Flow on iOS, and it plans to do the same on Android in the coming months, but with the SwiftKey acquisition, the company’s keyboard could arrive on rival platforms as part of this successful keyboard.
“This acquisition is a great example of Microsoft’s commitment to bringing its software and services to all platforms. We’ll continue to develop SwiftKey’s market-leading keyboard apps for Android and iOS as well as explore scenarios for the integration of the core technology across the breadth of our product and services portfolio,” Shum explains in his announcement.
“Moreover, SwiftKey’s predictive technology aligns with Microsoft’s investments and ambition to develop intelligent systems that can work more on the user’s behalf and under their control.”
There are no specifics available right now to detail the way the two solutions will be integrated, but SwiftKey will continue to be available as a cross-platform mobile application, so Android and iOS users have nothing to worry about. Microsoft did the same thing with the acquisition of Accompli (currently called Outlook) and Sunrise, with applications still available on Android and iOS.
Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock, SwiftKey co-founders, have also confirmed that SwiftKey will remain available on Android and iOS just like before, but it could be updated at some point in the future with Word Flow.