By Mark Prigg PUBLISHED: 12:15 EST, 29 April 2013 | UPDATED: 01:41 EST, 30 April 2013 Google is trying to upstage Siri, the sometimes droll assistant that answers questions and helps people manage their lives on Apple's iPhone and iPad. The duel begins Monday with the release of a free iPhone and iPad app that features Google Now, a technology that performs many of the same functions as Siri. It's the first time that Google Now has been available on smartphones and tablet computers that aren't running on the latest version of Google's Android software. Google Now on the iPhone and iPad - the new app, launched today, will compete with Apple's Siri
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Google launches Google Now service for iPhone and iPad
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Will compete directly with Apple's Siri service
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Google
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Google
Apple's maps application proved to be inferior to @placeholder's ousted service.
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Apple
@placeholder has been losing to Google on other fronts in a rapidly growing mobile computing market, an arena that was revolutionized with the iPhone's release in 2007.
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Apple
Apple
The rise of Android also is squeezing @placeholder's profit margins, and has contributed to a 40 percent drop in the company's stock price since it peaked at $705.07 last September around the time that the iPhone 5 came out.
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@placeholder's popularity is good news for Google because the company's services are built into most versions of the operating system.
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Siri
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@placeholder is billed by Apple as an 'intelligent feature' Since the technology's release in October 2011, Apple has made it a centerpiece of some marketing campaigns that depict Siri and its automated female voice as an endearing and occasionally even pithy companion.
Apple
Apple
Apple
Siri is billed by @placeholder as an 'intelligent feature' Since the technology's release in October 2011, Apple has made it a centerpiece of some marketing campaigns that depict Siri and its automated female voice as an endearing and occasionally even pithy companion.