Reports are surfacing that Apple has acquired Siri, a sophisticated mobile personal assistant application built on artificial intelligence research done at SRI as part of the CALO project.

What's always impressed me about Siri is that in my own tests of the product, it's lived up to the hype. Siri's founders are serious technologists who've been careful to promise only what they can deliver, and the results show clearly in how slick and finished the app felt at launch.

In 2009, we named Siri to our list of 10 important emerging technologies of the year. The acquisition would suggest that the company's technology is going to get the resources and support it needs to spread widely.

It's a shame, however, to think that Siri for Android is now an unlikely prospect.