iPhone 4S Release Date: Siri CEO Leaves Apple

By Elton Jones, Christian Post Reporter Monday, October 24, 2011

The CEO and co-founder of the technology company that developed Siri, the iPhone 4S’s voice recognition feature, has reportedly resigned from Apple.

Sources told AllThingsD, a technology website, that several reasons lay at the heart of Dag Kittlaus' departure; however, his resignation was in the planning stages for a while and both parties separated amicably.

Kittlaus supposedly left Apple because he has a desire for more free time to brainstorm new entrepreneurial ideas. His family also lives in Chicago, and Kittlaus wants to be closer to them.

Kittlaus left his position following the launch of the iPhone 4S. Sources told AllThingsD that other key executives from Siri are to remain at Apple.

Apple has not released an official statement on the departure of Kittlaus.

Kittlaus has led the creative effort for Siri since Apple bought the application in April 2010. However, Kittlaus has handled Siri as a CEO since 2007. He also detailed the application’s features at Apple headquarters in Cupertino on Oct. 4.

Kittlaus was an entrepreneur at the Stanford Research Institute before his Siri endeavors. He previously worked at Motorola, as well.

Siri’s voice recognition feature allows iPhone users to command with speech, and it is the iPhone 4S’s standout application.

"It answers questions and provides information using natural language and an intelligent understanding, not just of words, but of context and colloquial phrasing," said AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg.

Some reviewers and analysts were disappointed by the iPhone 4S, but the smartphone has still managed to become a rousing success for Apple.

Apple announced that pre-orders for the iPhone 4S hit the 1 million mark within its first 24 hours of sales.