The next version of Apple’s iOS [iOS 5] is said to be a major upgrade, which is expected to be announced at the WWDC 2011 event. Bunch of rumors suggests that the next version of iOS will feature revamped notification system and speech recognition system.
Apple is rumored to be negotiating some sort of deal with Nuance Communication, to integrate Nuance’s speech recognition engine into Apple’s iOS 5, according to multiple source of TechCrunch.
Apple has been negotiating a deal with Nuance in recent months, we’ve heard from multiple sources. What does that mean? Well, it could mean an acquisition, but that is looking fairly unlikely at this point, we hear. More likely, it means a partnership that will be vital to both companies and could shape the future of iOS.
The other option is for Apple to build the technology themselves. And some recent job postings suggest they may be thinking about that. But to get to where Nuance is today it would take a long, long time. Perhaps more importantly, it’s well known in the industry that Nuance holds key patents for their technology and is very aggressive in protecting them. Even Apple would have a hard time dancing around this if they did go it alone.
Nuance CEO Paul Ricci can be as hard of a negotiator as Apple’s own Steve Jobs, we hear. And so there has been a standoff, and negotiations have been ongoing for months.
That’s not to downplay Nuance though. As one source puts it, “voice recognition done well is actually non-trivial, and although it is just ‘input’, you win or lose on it.”
Nuance speech recognition technology is already been used by Apple in Siri, a company which was acquired by Apple last year. After this acquisition, Apple had to renegotiate with all Siri’s partner to ensure the service remained active.
The report also noted that it is very unlikely for Apple to buy out Nuance, becuase the company is very expensive. Nuance current market cap is about $6 billion and it would take considerably more than that for Apple to buy them. But, as we’re all well aware, Apple has the cash to do that.
Report suggest that the deal has been going on for months. If Apple has to unveil iOS 5 with integrated speech recognition, the deal has to come to an end before WWDC 2011 event.