Nuance inks multi-year deal with Nokia

NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Speech recognition technology supplier Nuance Communications Inc (NUAN.O) on Wednesday said it agreed to provide speech and predictive text technologies for a broad range of Nokia (NOK1V.HE) phones.

The maker of Dragon speech recognition software, which analysts expect to post 2008 revenue of $917 million, said the multi-year deal would bring it "tens of millions of dollars" in revenue over the next several years.

The companies also agreed to work on a new type of mobile user interface aimed at improving access to many cell phone applications, it said. Cell phone market leader Nokia sells 40 percent of the world's mobile phones.

Nuance, a Massachusetts-based company with a roughly $2.6 billion market cap, already sells Nokia predictive text technology and supports voice recognition on some of its phones.

Nuance shares closed at $11.43, down 69 cents or 5.7 percent, on the Nasdaq, setting a new 52-week low and well off its 52-week high set last October of $22.55. (Reporting by Sinaed Carew, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)