In a somewhat surprise announcement, Microsoft has revealed that it has acquired SwiftKey, the company known for its predictive typing apps for Android and iOS.
The acquisition has been made for an undisclosed amount. SwiftKey stresses that its app for iOS and Android will continue to be available, which actually isn't all that surprising considering that Microsoft has been releasing a number of apps to iOS and Android in recent times.
"We love SwiftKey's technology and we love the team that Jon and Ben have formed," said Microsoft's Harry Shum in a blog post. "That's why today I'm excited to welcome the company's employees to Microsoft. We believe that together we can achieve orders of magnitude greater scale than either of us could have achieved independently."
Of course, Microsoft will likely fold the SwiftKey technology into apps of its own, meaning that it is more interested in the underlying technology and personnel of SwiftKey rather than the SwiftKey app available to users. In fact, Microsoft even says that the technology will eventually be integrated into the Microsoft Word Flow keyboard.
Essentially, the acquisition is yet another move by Microsoft to try and make sure it can continue to compete in mobile, both on its own operating system and on others.
