In a new report from The Information that details talks between Google and HP regarding a possible Google Now-like Android assistant for the workplace, the site claims that HP also approached Apple before the IBM partnership announced earlier this year.
The idea is for employees to be able to ask their Android device for company information such as financial data or product inventory information in the same way they do routine personal searches for weather, traffic or restaurant locations. Google search doesn’t currently offer any such integration with corporate databases and software applications, but it’s an area Google has looked at as it tries to chip away at the iPhone’s lead among business customers.
According to the report, the talks to possibly bring Siri type assistant features to enterprise customers happened before Apple announced its deal with IBM in July that will see the two companies offer various enterprise services to iOS users. While we’ll have to wait and see exactly what Apple and IBM offer to business customers through their partnership, the companies have committed to collaborating on over 100 enterprise apps & cloud services for the iPhone and iPad and a new AppleCare service specifically for enterprise customers.
The report also notes that HP has discussed the possibility of doing a Nexus device with Google specifically for the enterprise. While talks between HP and Google apparently started around a year ago, Google has reportedly not yet committed to partnering with HP on the functionality.
(via BusinessInsider)
