We reported a little earlier on that Apple had taken one of Samsung's chip designers, but now news has arrived from AllThingsD that the iDevice maker has hired major Amazon executive and president search technologist, William Stasior.

Stasior will take over their Siri unit, according to their sources, and up until now Stasior has been in charge of Amazon's search and search advertising unit, A9. Stasior, a former AltaVista executive co-founded the independent company and has run it since Udi Manber left for Google.

With Stasior now at the wheel of Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant should get some much-needed guidance. Siri has lost some of the talent who created it, with Adam Cheyer leaving. Cheyer co-founded the voice recognition company prior to their acquisition by Apple in 2008, and CEO Dag Kittlaus left in October 2011.