Nuance to Acquire Mobile Voice Control
Published: Jun 28, 2007
Mass.-Speech recognition and imaging solutions provider Nuance Communications here will acquire MobileVoiceControl, a Mason, Ohio-based provider of technology to surf the Web and perform other tasks on wireless devices using speech controls. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is expected to close by the end of the month.
Nuance has been beta-testing programs for surfing the Web and composing e-mail on hand-held wireless devices using voice controls since launching its Nuance Mobile Platform last month. Acquiring MobileVoiceControl speeds Nuance’s entry into the market, says Peter Mahoney, the company’s vice president of worldwide marketing.
MobileVoiceControl has been offering such a service to customers on the Sprint-Nextel wireless network for about a year. Its service allows users to dictate and send e-mail or text messages, place calls by name or number, create calendar entries, and search Web content simply by pressing a button on their Blackberry, Palm and Windows-enabled mobile devices and speaking their requests into an integrated headset. MobileVoiceControl also has an agreement in place to allow users access to the pages of USA Today through their wireless devices.
