The Purchases of google and Microsoft give a great indication of the way they see the market moving. This article tells of Microsoft’s recent purchase of TellMe, a provider of voice activated search technology. No prizes for guessing that this ties in with the markets interest in mobile search. Everyone appears to be fighting to be the best equipped for when the mobile market takes off. Apparently 2007 will be the year for the adoption of the technology and 2008 will be the year it takes off. I still remain to be convinced about the extent of mobiles emergance but one thing is for sure this wont be the last of the purchases in this market in 2007.
Microsoft Buys TellMe, Voice-Activated Mobile Search Provider
by Shankar Gupta, Thursday, Mar 15, 2007 6:00 AM ET
MICROSOFT FINALIZED A DEAL WEDNESDAY to purchase TellMe, a directory assistance provider and voice-activated mobile search firm, giving Redmond a possible edge in the race to develop a better mobile search tool.
Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Marketing Intelligence, said that despite the manual dexterity mobile search users are developing, using a tiny keyboard still offers a sub-par user experience.
“There’s still usability problems that are pretty significant,” he said. “Keying in search queries is awkward. This is really about improving usability, and driving consumer adoption.”
Microsoft is reportedly purchasing the voice-recognition and directory assistance technology firm for between $800 million and $1 billion. A statement released by Microsoft specifically called out “search services on mobile phones that integrate with Live Search for mobile offerings” as an area of interest between the two companies.