Verizon had Siri exclusive on Android before Apple

Verizon had a deal to make Siri available as a default app on Android phones before Apple moved in to buy the virtual assistant, a new report has revealed. Verizon signed a deal with the development team behind Siri in fall 2009, but when Apple bought Siri, the company insisted on making Siri exclusive to its own devices, and voided the Verizon deal. Under the prior contract, Siri would have been included on all Android phones launching in 2010, and Verizon even created commercials touting the new feature. The report, which deals with the history of Siri, also notes how Siri’s co-founders discussed the virtual assistant with Steve Jobs in his home prior to making the deal with Apple—saying that the company’s speech processing technology had cracked a long-time goal of Jobs and former Apple SVP Scott Forstall—among other notable details. [via Huffington Post]