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Nuance to buy rival VlingoDec 20, 2011 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Nuance Communications, the Burlington creator of Dragon speech-recognition software, signed an agreement yesterday to acquire Cambridge rival Vlingo. "Virtually every mobile and consumer electronics company on the planet is looking for ways to integrate natural, conversational voice interactions into their mobile products, applications and services," said Mike Thompson, senior vice president and general manager for Nuance Mobile. "By acquiring Vlingo, we are able to accelerate the pace of innovation." Both companies said consumer demand for intelligent voice interfaces has created a $5 billion market opportunity. Nuance is best known for speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology, while Vlingo has technology that allows phones, navigation devices and other computers to understand and follow commands, such as "Call home," or "Find a movie theater," said analyst Barbara Coffey, managing director of Brigantine Advisors, who called the two companies "quite complementary." "It's easier to acquire something, rather than to build it yourself," she said. It could also be less expensive than litigation. The companies did not disclose the cost of the acquisition, but in August, Vlingo was found not guilty of infringing a Nuance patent. In September, Vlingo sued Nuance, alleging that the latter's CEO, Paul Ricci, offered three Vlingo executives $5 million each to persuade their board of directors to approve an acquisition offer from 2009. Since yesterday's acquisition deal, both parties have stopped the litigation and will focus on a common competitor, Google, said Steve Chambers, Nuance's president. "We thought we would be more likely to succeed, working together than apart," Chambers said. The companies have not yet decided whether Vlingo will keep its name, or whether its approximately 100 employees will move to Burlington to join Nuance's team of more than 6,000, he said. [email protected] ___ (c)2011 the Boston Herald Visit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |