Assistant is an intelligent personal assistant application for mobile devices developed by Speaktoit. Originally launched in October 2011 for the Android platform (although available in beta in March 2011), Assistant has since come to iOS and Windows Phones. Assistant uses natural language understanding and voice recognition to interact with its users and is capable of having clarifying conversations. Unlike Apple's Siri, Assistant comes in the form of a customizable, cartoonish avatar. The New York Times recognized Assistant as one of the top 10 Android Apps of 2011.