[aazaa]

Apple's MO is vertical integration. So this only makes sense in the context of a vertical integration play. The article talks about some of ways a search engine could integrate with existing products, but they don't seem very compelling.

On that score, this doesn't look like it will happen, despite appearances.

On the other hand, if Apple is also working on another, secret, project that would integrate well with search, that would be a different matter.