From Silicon City, the weekly column on Chicago tech news and newsmakers on Crain's blog for Chicago entrepreneurs:
Giving Siri a run for her money
By Steve Hendershot
Seventy-seven thousand users have downloaded the free Android app Cluzee since it was introduced on Nov. 28. Cluzee, from Port Barrington-based Tronton LLC, is a digital personal assistant that responds to voice commands — in other words, a lot like Siri, the showstopping feature of the latest iPhone.
Siri's technology was developed and refined using $24 million in venture capital; Apple Inc. then purchased Siri Inc., in April 2010, before including the software in the iPhone 4S. Cluzee, in contrast, is the property of Ashish Patwa, the founder and sole employee of Tronton. Mr. Patwa spent a decade eyeing the space, and in 2010 decided to leave his job as a project leader at GE Healthcare to found Tronton. He used freelance programmers to build his first version, and is now looking to raise money and expand his team. He tells Silicon City about his product and his plans.
Read the entire interview on Crain's website.
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Follow Silicon City columnist Steve Hendershot on Twitter: @stevehendershot.
You can follow Crain's small-business editor Ann Dwyer on Twitter, too: @AnnDwyer_Crains.
