ZTE Joins Up With Nuance, Voice Integrated Devices Will Roll Out This Year

Nuance, maker of the popular voice dictation software Dragon Naturally Speaking, has been making itself known today, first announcing this morning at CES that it has bestowed Swype with some new features. The company has followed this up with an announcement that it has entered into a partnership with ZTE, bringing its voice features to the Chinese company's smartphones.

The exact length of the partnership is unknown, with the announcement simply stating that it is a "multi-year" agreement. Nuance will bring its voice software to ZTE's portfolio of upcoming handsets starting this year. The voice features will encompass 25 languages, although it didn't state which languages those are.

There's not much info in terms of what apps will be gaining Nuance's voice functionality features, with the exception of one: Car Mode. This app is said to include voice control via Nuance and allow users to do hands-free activities, such as making calls and sending texts. The app is optimized to work in the loud environment of a car, and does not require any sort of broadband connection.

It also offers some other features that could arguably be utilized just as effectively outside of the vehicle as during a trip. Do No Disturb mode is present, which allows the driver to disable incoming calls and notifications until the drive is over. The app can be awoken hands-free with voice commands, and will provide verbal notifications about texts and incoming calls.

[via Android Community]