Breaking news: Nuance buys VoiceSignal for $293m

There’s been a few postings recently on here about Nuance, who are a leader in the speech recognition arena. Dave at Schwartz PR has just been in touch with the rather hot piece of news that Nuance has just bought VoiceSignal, another company in the same arena.

According to Nuance’s chairman and CEO, Paul Ricci:

“Today, more than two billion people worldwide rely on mobile phones to stay connected, informed and productive. We see an expanding opportunity in helping consumers to use the powerful capabilities of their phones and to access the array of content and services available on the mobile Web”.

“We understand how to unlock the extraordinary potential of the mobile experience with speech. VoiceSignal’s roster of solutions, language experience, relationships and talented employees will help Nuance deliver on the promise of the mobile lifestyle for consumers, device manufacturers, carriers and mobile Web content providers.”

And this is what Rich Geruson, CEO of VoiceSignal, had to say:

“By combining forces with Nuance, we can accelerate the realization of our common vision for mobile handsets: to eliminate the input bottleneck from small, mobile device keypads and make accessible to users the full power of mobile devices”.

“Joining Nuance’s assets with our capabilities in mobile positions the company well in the exciting, dynamic market of mobile search, where a voice interface will be the key to unlock its potential.”

The combined company has got some big plans in the world of voice synthesis and recognition, including voice-based mobile search, speech to SMS/MMS, voice-activated dialing, and all sorts of other goodies. Definitely one to watch in the coming months!