We’re treating this rumour with the biggest pinch of salt we can muster, but whispering persists that Jobs and Co are hard at work on their own Google rival… or at least a prettier wrapper for it.
According to TechCrunch, several Silicon Valley insiders have heard rumours that “ Apple is working on a search engine of some sort.”
That’s a little vague, and not helped by TechCrunch’s inability to back the claims up by scouring job ads, as well as unannounced personnel moves.
“If Apple were building a search engine, they’d be hiring search experts and engineers,” the site explains. “We’ve talked to a ton of them at all the big companies, and while some of them heard the same rumors, none have lost search employees to Apple.”
As rumours go, it’s a little on the thin side, but AppleInsider reckons it’s cracked the case, claiming that instead of a full-blown search engine, Apple’s working on ways to integrate existing services like Google into user interfaces.
Google has already announced a voice-activated search tool for the iPhone, and OS X Leopard includes Data Detectors to automatically funnel addresses from e-mails into Google Maps.
Even the new iPhone software features a more visible Google search box, so news of Apple integrating the search engine in neater ways isn’t a surprise.
What do you think will be added? Can Google get any easier to use? Sound off in the comments section below.
TBC | £TBC | Apple (via TechCrunch)
