Consolidation continues in this young industry.

Nuance Communications, Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire VoiceSignal Technologies, Inc., creating an organization with broad resources, solutions and expertise that will satisfy the accelerating demand for speech-enabled mobile devices and services. Nuance expects to serve more than one billion consumers within the next three years with voice-based mobile solutions that allow people to simply and effectively navigate, retrieve and transact across the vast and growing universe of content and services available in mobile phones, automobiles and personal navigation devices.

Nuance and VoiceSignal share a vision to make the growing list of mobile device features, content and services available to consumers through a single button and a natural voice command. With proven technology, broad industry relationships, real-world deployment experience and an organization passionate about speech technology, the combined company will be able to develop new and innovative speech solutions and mobile search capabilities to more effectively serve the rapidly expanding market for mobile services and applications.

Nuance should think of itself more than a speech company, look for some other strategic assets to truly become a dominant force in the ecosystem.