Google accelerating plans to launch Siri competitor for Android devices

The race between Google and Apple has never been more fierce. While Google enjoys a larger share of the smartphone market, the Cupertino-based company’s iPhone is a much more profitable product than Google’s Android OS. Google’s Android operating system is open source and even though it comes preloaded with Google’s search engine and other services, the company hasn’t yet found many ways to make money off of its mobile platform beyond advertising. The Mountain View-based company is expected to follow in Apple’s footsteps, however, and begin selling its own devices. The company already sells smartphones through its online store, and later this month it is expected to unveil a Google-branded Nexus tablet at its annual I/O Developer Conference. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is following Apple’s lead again and is accelerating plans to launch its own Siri competitor that will work on Android-powered devices. As previously reported, the voice service, which is rumored to be called Assistant, looks to offer even more impressive functionality than and will reportedly be unveiled in the fourth quarter this year.