The makers of iPhone made a surprise acquisition of a data analysis company, Topsy.
Apple, who has usually refrained from purchasing social media companies, made a rare decision to purchase a company that analyses the popularity of brands based on consumers Tweets.
Twitter is a social media platform on which people from across the globe share opinions in a select number of characters.
This has turned Twitter into a space where people can have conversations about anything they choose, including which brands or products they like and dislike.
Although Apple declined to comment on why they made the purchase, specialists have suggested it is a move to monitor the popularity of their devices and their brand as a whole.
Topsy’s main point of focus as a company is reading consumer sentiment towards a brand or product. As it is one of the few companies that has access to the entire Twitter stream, it analyses large and varied amounts of data efficiently to form a coherent reading of a brands presence and likeability.
The only previous noteworthy dip into social media undertaken by Apple was its investment into Ping, a social network that’s primary focus was music sharing. Apple attempted to integrate this software into iTunes but did not see much success and was consequently shutdown.
However, it would seem Apple has a refreshed perspective on the social aspects of software and technology in the past month. They hashed out a sum of $200 million for Topsy only one week after buying out another company named PrimeSense.
Kristin Huguet, a representative of the tech-giant, said, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
PrimeSense, a 3D tech company based in Israel, created the technology behind the successful Kinect, an add-on for the gaming console, Xbox.
The 3D company has offices around the globe and has a proven track record of success so far. Apple acquired PrimeSense at the end of November for $350 million.
Analysts first speculated that Apple had intentions to join the gaming industry, however, new theories are emerging that Siri may be preparing to go 3D.
In order to enhance her capabilities as a virtual assistant, the software may have a new piece added to her that will enable her to read the surrounding location in order to present more intuitive search results. At this point in time, no solid evidence has been presented to support these speculations.
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