BURLINGTON, Mass.--BUSINESS WIRE--Nuance Communications NASDAQ: NUAN today announced that it has established a strategic global relationship with ZTE, a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, to ship Nuance VSuite and Nuance Vocalizer on ZTE handsets. As a result of the deal, ZTE devices will feature robust speech capabilities for both command and control, and text-to-speech across its extensive portfolio of mobile phones available from carriers around the world.

“We keep a strong focus on mobile innovation and design in order to meet the various needs of the operators we work with, and the many consumer markets they serve”

Given the global demand for innovative and intuitive mobile speech capabilities across a variety of markets and platforms, including Android and Windows Mobile, ZTE is integrating Nuance VSuite, Nuance’s pervasive speech software already shipping on hundreds of millions of phones. Nuance VSuite enables mobile consumers to speak a variety of commands – ranging from simple dialing, to launching games and other applications like the text messaging client and Web browser. Nuance VSuite coupled with Nuance Vocalizer, which provides text-to-speech functionality for text message readout and command confirmation, gives ZTE consumers an incredibly easy-to-use mobile interface on some of the most innovative mobile phones shipping today.

“We keep a strong focus on mobile innovation and design in order to meet the various needs of the operators we work with, and the many consumer markets they serve,” said Kan Yulun, CTO, handset division, ZTE Corporation. “Working with Nuance enables us to bring the power and simplicity of speech to our broad portfolio of handsets, as they provide flexible solutions that can be easily integrated as part of any mobile platform. Now, we can universally enhance the mobile user experience.”

As a result of this relationship, ZTE is now able to bring sophisticated speech capabilities to both high-end smartphones and lower-end feature phones. And because Nuance VSuite and Nuance Vocalizer support more than 40 languages worldwide, including U.S. English, Simplified Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, ZTE can now bring speech to more phones in more markets worldwide.

“ZTE has proven to be a trailblazer in mobile design, making them a perfect partner to bring our robust speech capabilities to market as part of their device portfolio,” said Michael Thompson, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile. “Although mobile speech is fast becoming a standard feature on devices, handset manufacturers need to set themselves apart from the competition. This is why we’re continuously innovating speech offerings that allow our partners like ZTE to truly customize the speech experience and differentiate their offerings across their global markets – not just with one or two carriers or a handful of models.”

Nuance VSuite and Nuance Vocalizer are a part of Nuance’s broad mobile portfolio that features the industry’s pervasive mobile speech and predictive input solutions that are changing the way consumers interact with their mobile phones to send text messages and email, place calls, and access the mobile Web for information, directions, music and more. Nuance’s mobile solutions ship on more than four billion handsets – a result of its extensive relationships with every major mobile OEM and carriers around the world. For more information about Nuance VSuite, please visit www.nuance.com/vsuite.

About ZTE

ZTE is a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions. It has the widest and most complete product range in the world – covering virtually every sector of the fixed, wireless, service and terminals markets. The company delivers innovative, custom-made products and services to over 500 operators in more than 140 countries, helping them to achieve continued revenue growth and to shape the future of the world’s communications. ZTE commits around 10% of its annual turnover to research and development and takes a leading role in a wide range of international bodies developing emerging telecoms standards. ZTE leads China’s 3G industry with about 30% share of the total 3G equipment market in 2008. A company with sound corporate social responsibility CSR initiatives, ZTE is a member of the UN Global Compact that strictly adheres to the Ten Principles of the Global Compact in developing and carrying out CSR programs. ZTE is China’s only listed telecoms manufacturer, with shares publicly traded on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ. For more information, please visit www.zte.com.cn.

About Nuance Mobile

Nuance Mobile builds innovative, intelligent and intuitive touch and speech interfaces to simplify and enhance the way people interact with mobile devices, applications, and services. Nuance Mobile solutions make mobile devices and in-car systems easier to use, automate customer self-service, and optimize the access and discovery of even the most advanced mobile applications and content – regardless of technical know-how, location, environment, or physical and literacy capabilities.

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit: nuance.com.

Nuance, VSuite, Vocalizer and the Nuance logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The statements in this press release, relating to future plans or future events or services, are forward-looking statements which are subject to specific risks and uncertainties. There are a number of factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward looking statements, including fluctuations in demand for the Nuance products, the relationship with the partner and the continued development of Nuance products. The reader is warned not to rely on these forward-looking statements without reservation, since these are simply reflections of the current situation. Nuance disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document.