Apple Acquires Cue After Mysteriously Shuttering The Service On Wednesday

The personal assistant app Cue mysteriously shut down on Wednesday and left many users scratching their heads in confusion. It turns out Apple acquired Cue and shuttered the service.

According to Apple Insider the purchase price was in the vicinity of $35 million to $45 million. An anonymous tipster provided the buyout numbers but other details are scarce.

While Apple quickly confirmed the Cue acquisition it did not discuss pricing or other terms. Apple is typically pretty tight-lipped about its acquisitions, especially in the early days of closing a deal.

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” an Apple rep told tech reporting website Mashable.

Cue is a social platform that makes it easy to find social media activity using a LinkedIn account, contacts, Gmail, calendars, and Dropbox accounts.

The company started out as Greplin but changed its name in 2012. The company, still in its infancy, was attempting to become the “Google Now” of the iOS platform.

On Wednesday Cue announced that it was shutting down its website, at the time no further details were provided.

Here is the current message left on the Cue website:

“We appreciate all of the support from you, our users, as Cue has grown over the last few years. However, the Cue service is no longer available.

Cue Premium users who registered through the website will receive a prorated refund. Cue Premium users registered though the iPhone App can request a refund through iTunes. In accordance with our privacy policy, your data and personal information will not be stored or transferred; it has been permanently deleted.

We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you. It’s been an incredible journey that wouldn’t have been possible without your loyal support.

Our sincerest thanks,
– The Cue Team”

And the acquisition battle of the tech titans continues…