Amazon to challenge Siri

Neither company has admitted it, but it seems Amazon has purchased voice-to-text start up Yap, signalling a possible attempt to challenge Apple's Siri voice recognition tool.

As reported by The Atlantic, a filing with the Securities - Exchange Commission shows Yap was purchased by Dion Acquisition Sub, Inc., a company headquartered at a Seattle building that Amazon owns.

Apple acquired Siri when it purchased the company of the same name in April 2010. The tool was one of the flagship features of the iPhone 4S, released last month, and commentators have speculated Apple may look to put it into other devices such as TVs.

Amazon is currently gearing up to release its low-spec Kindle Fire tablet. If the acquisition is anything to go by, the company may be looking at incorporating voice recognition into its devices in the future.