Microsoft is reported to just take over Swiftkey for $250 million. The keyboard application is the first predictive typing application, which is also said to be the best among the other apps.
Swiftkey is the most well-known keyword apps used by iPhone and Android users. Business Insider mentioned that the app depends on its sophisticated machine learning tool. When you type, the app learns from you and then recommends the following word or phrase.
Pre-installation has been done by Blackberry and Samsung on some of their phones. Swiftkey was also once at the top list of downloaded apps on the Google Play store and Apple App Store.
With the attempts to make its own home-built Word Flow smart keyboard from the Windows 10 Mobile platform and to the iPhone sooner or later, Microsoft considers keyboard is a crucial part at this moment. Besides that, Microsoft adores that same machine learning technology and utilizes it to improve tools to be better, faster, and more personal, including the Cortana virtual personal assistant.
This is a strong way out for the London-based startup. Eventhough the app is popular, it has not found a reliable and strong business model. It has shifted from a $4 download to a free-to-use model where you need to purchase specific additional items. However, it does not go as expected.
The Tech Radar stated that the app turned into a free with paid upgrades when iOS 8 was released in 2014. Meanwhile, Swype, its main competitor, still occupies a higher rate on the downloaded application lists.
It is not just a tender for its expansion on more than 300 million iOS and Android gadgets. Microsoft seems to have bigger plans. Moreover, the push for AI has warmed Google, Apple and other tech companies. We also see that Microsoft has been conducting researches on the rival's new "crazy-looking keyboard apps".
Swiftkey is not Microsoft's first acquisition on mobile software. The company has taken over "the email app Acompli, to-do list Wunderlist calendar app Sunrise, all for the benefit of Outlook."
According to FT, a person close to the deal said: "There's a war for talent in artificial intelligence - and companies like Google and Microsoft recognize the best talent is in the UK." The $250m value makes the arrangement one of the company's greatest exits lately. From its annual report at the end of 2014, the company, which has a corporation with TouchType, gained £8.4m sales.
As indicated by some people close to the company, there are more than 150 workers in London, San Francisco and Seoul, who are supposed to join Microsoft Research under Harry Shum.
The $250 million agreement between Microsoft and Swiftkey will be Microsoft's next strategy for its mobile development. It aims at creating apps or tools that can be used in any kinds of devices.
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