After rumours started to circulate yesterday about Microsoft’s acquisition of SwiftKey, the company has formally announced they will be joining the Microsoft team. SwiftKey was founded back in 2008 by Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock and quickly gained popularity, largely in part due to its excellent predictive word and auto-correction capabilities. SwiftKey is currently available on iOS and Android devices, and Microsoft will be looking to integrate SwiftKey with their Word Flow technology for Windows. Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Technology and Research, Harry Shum, posted:
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. 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.
As for users of the Android and iOS versions of the app, Reynolds and Medlock are indicating that nothing will change in the way those apps are maintained.
Our number one focus has always been to build the best possible products for our users. This will not change. Our apps will continue to be available on Android and iOS, for free. We are as committed as ever to improving them in new and innovative ways.
According to the SwiftKey team, users of the popular keyboard have saved “an estimated 10 trillion keystrokes across 100 different languages, which adds up to over 100,000 years of reclaimed typing time,” which is no small feat.
The deal is reportedly worth $250m with Reynolds and Medlock making close to $30m each from the buyout, although that has been unconfirmed by either company.
What do you think about Microsoft’s acquisition of SwiftKey? Let us know in the comments below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”https://blog.swiftkey.com/microsoft-acquires-swiftkey/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: SwiftKey[/button][button link=”http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/03/microsoft-acquires-swiftkey-in-support-of-re-inventing-productivity-ambition/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Microsoft[/button][button link=”http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0%2Ff86534c6-c9fa-11e5-be0b-b7ece4e953a0.html#axzz3z3UKkAx9″ icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: FT.com[/button]
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