According to a new article, “Tempo AI, an SRI International spin-off venture, introduces the Tempo Smart Calendar for iPhone, a cutting-edge personal assistant application centered on a person’s day. The Tempo Smart Calendar is a mobile productivity app that analyzes data from a user’s mobile calendar and applies artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance meetings and events throughout the day. It finds and neatly organizes everything needed to be fully prepared, such as contacts, emails, and related documents, and puts them in context. In a single tap, anyone can complete common tasks, saving time and reducing stress. Using Tempo Smart Calendar is like having a personal assistant prepare for what’s next – not only providing the right information, but anticipating and understanding what a user intends to do with it.” Read more

Ryan Kim of GigaOM recently reported that SRI International is putting out their own Siri-like personal travel assistant, Desti. He writes, “Apple’s Siri works pretty well as a personal assistant but it’s not equipped to be your virtual travel guide. But Desti which, like Siri, is a spin out from SRI International, is launching today in public beta and is looking to take on that job for consumers. Desti, which is debuting as an iPad app, offers users the ability to pose travel questions and get back specific recommendations on hotels, restaurants and events. The service, which is limited to Northern California for now, was built using SRI’s artificial intelligence technology, combined with natural language processing, semantic search and a travel-specific knowledge base. The system uses contextual clues and what it knows about a user to return relevant results, which are displayed on a very visual results page.” Read more