Apple seems to be continuing on its acquisitions rampage which has seen the tech titan buy up 29 companies over the past nine months. According to the latest reports, the most recent purchase is the book analytics start-up BookLamp.
According to TechCrunch, a source reported that the company was bought for between 10 and 15 million dollars, though Apple has yet to formally make the announcement. A statement released by the Cupertino-based tech giant said, “Apple buys smaller companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
BookLamp.org was founded in February 2007, and its main purpose is to analyze books based on writing styles and content. The site has been nicknamed the “Pandora for Books”, having received $900,000 from local backers to keep the Idaho-based company running.
BookLamp is most famous for the ‘Book Genome Project’, a venture that uses an algorithm to analyze and recommend books based on action, tense, perspective, tone, descriptiveness and the amount of dialogue. The company is known for not taking the most advertised or read books into account when giving recommendations to ensure that readers receive a genuine recommendation specific to their tastes.
Up until its website recently shut down (as the company ‘evolves its mission’ as an Apple subsidiary) BookLamp had analyzed a limited number of books, but was nonetheless continuing to expand. Now, Apple has likely asked the company to take down their website to ensure its services are not used by competitors in the e-book industry.
Amazon, the company which is currently dominating the world of e-books, considered purchasing BookLamp a while ago, but instead opted to acquire the large reading database Goodreads.
Although Apple have not yet stated their intentions for BookLamp the MNC will likely use the company’s algorithm to improve their iBook recommendations, categorization and search options. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is always ‘on the prowl’ for new technology and the acquisition of BookLamp may just be what it needs to become a serious contender in the E-book sphere.