Swype has reportedly been snapped up for a cool $100 million by voice-recognition specialist Nuance.

The Swype keyboard – which predicts word when you run your finger from key to key – is now a familiar sight on Android phones.

That popularity has made the Seattle-based company a target for takeover, and it is Nuance that snapped it up, with Uncrunched breaking the news.

Linkage

There is a deeper link between the two – Swype founder Cliff Kuschler previously worked for Tegic - which created the widespread T9 predictive text which is now owned by Nuance.

Obviously t9's popularity has faded, but Swype is a much more modern system for speedy text entry, and Nuance is clearly keen to keep in the predictive game.

The only real surprise, perhaps, is that one of the Android manufacturers, which are keen to differentiate themselves in the Android market was not the buyer.

From Uncrunched via AllThingsDigital