Internet network: Facebook buys company for speech recognition technology – Business Week

The Facebook universe continues to grow: The company buys a start-up that has developed a speech recognition software – and not just for smartphones and tablets.

Facebook is continuing its buying spree and takes over a company for voice recognition software. Based in Palo Alto, California, company wit.ai had been bought on Monday, Facebook announced, without naming the price. Founded 18 months ago startup has developed a technology that delivers a speech recognition for smartphones and tablets, but also about about for Internet-controlled home appliances. The software can wit.ai According recognize spoken language and written texts in “natural language”.

Facebook in figures

• transparency thanks IPO

  Facebook has long concealed, when it came to the figures. This has changed with the IPO in May 2012 – now the company must inform exactly the broker. The documents also reveal a glimpse into the early years of the social network. The most important findings at a glance.

• Early profitable

  In the first years of Facebook lost money though – like most startups. But the company in 2009 reached the black with a profit of 229 million dollars. In the past year Facebook made $ 7.9 billion revenue from advertising and online games, and earned $ 1.5 billion profit. For the network to Internet stalwarts such as AOL and Yahoo depends far off.

• advertising as the main source of money

  Facebook makes its money especially with advertising. Finally, the proportion was around 90 percent. The rest was mainly from the fact that Facebook will share revenue from online games. In the first quarter 2014 sales soared 72 percent to $ 2.5 billion high, the profit tripled to 642 million dollars.

• Unprecedented growth

  Facebook unprecedented growth behind: Within ten years, the number of active users to 1, grown 28 billion, equivalent to roughly half of the global Internet population.

• Zuckerberg has control

  founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has also after the IPO firm grip. He holds a Class B who have ten votes stocks, while investors in the IPO only get a class A shares with one voice

• Dominant around the world

  Most of the world is blue: In almost all countries Facebook is the largest social Network -. notable exceptions are Russia and China where local firms dominate

• No chance for StudiVZ

  Although StudiVZ was long in front, Facebook in Germany is now the undisputed number 1 most recent estimate of the portal allfacebook.com has facebook this country of 27 million active members.

A Facebook spokesman declined to give any information about the plans with the new acquisition. Of technologies for speech recognition similar to Apple Siri software, the Internet industry promises new ways about the promising market with networked home appliances.

World’s Largest Internet network, Facebook had recently emphasized, inter alia, with the purchase of Oculus his interest in companies outside the traditional PC, Smartphone and tablet area. Oculus produces data glasses with which users can immerse themselves in computer games in a virtual world. Facebook had let the start-up cost two billion dollars. The wit.ai takeover was probably According to insiders cheaper.