Finland: Nokia is expanding its HERE Maps mapping business with the acquisition of mapping startup Desti, a spinout from SRI International — the same group responsible for Apple's Siri.
It's not clear exactly how Desti will be incorporated into HERE, but the assumption is that it will aim to make the system more intuitive. Now that Nokia is making its APIs available to third parties, Desti could either be kept for use in Nokia's services or shared with developers.
Desti technology is based on AI pioneered in SRI’s Artificial Intelligence Center. It follows three other SRI spin-off ventures: Siri, the first virtual personal assistant (VPA), which was acquired by Apple in 2010; Trapit, a content discovery and user engagement company; and Tempo AI, a mobile productivity app featuring a smart calendar to help organize tasks.
Source: SRI International and HERE
