Nokia Oyj has bought the mapping startup and app maker Desti in order to expand its HERE maps.
Desti uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing to help people with their searches, according to TechCrunch.
The startup is a spin-off of SRI International, the creator of Siri. SRI is now owned by Apple.
The app skims through online reviews and subscriptions to find shops, restaurants and hotels that fit the interest of the user, saving the user time, PC Magazine reported.
"Basically, it's like having your best friend and a local resident get together to plan your trips," Renu Rayasam from Nokia's HERE wrote in a blog post. "If I was trying to plan a girl's weekend, for example, Desti would know that I eschew chain hotels for offbeat, boutique lodgings and give me just those results, along with the types of restaurants, spas and clubs I normally gravitate towards."
The current Desti app will shut down as part of the deal, having already been pulled from the App store. Don Zereski, vice president of Search and Places at HERE, said the shutdown will take place "within the next 90 days," TechCrunch reported.
Zereski added that while the app will initially be used for HERE's apps, it will also have a broader use for Nokia's API effort.
"The Desti backend will become a part of that platform over time," he said.
Microsoft Corp. will be one of Nokia's biggest customers for HERE for at least the short term, having signed a four-year licensing deal to use the mapping technology for its mobile devices..
The deal's financial details have not been revealed yet, according to PC Magazine.
"At HERE we match people with the places that matter to them, so that they feel like a local wherever they are," Zereski said. "We want to create a new class of location services that implicitly understands who you are and what you're looking for, sometimes even before you ask."
