Nuance, a company whose reputation was built on its impressive speech-recognition technology, has reportedly held talks about a potential sale to Samsung. The Wall Street Journal claims that Nuance has been in discussions with numerous suitors; aside from Samsung — already one of Nuance's many customers — the company is said to have spoken with private equity firms about a potential deal. Unfortunately, the Journal notes that it's currently unclear where these talks have led or if they remain ongoing.

Nuance has numerous popular products and services on the market, led by its Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation software. Apple's Siri also makes heavy use of Nuance's speech recognition, though the Journal doesn't list Cupertino among the interested buyers. Presumably there are deals in place that would prevent a dustup if Nuance comes under new ownership; the company has clients in a number of fields, ranging from automakers and electronics manufacturers all the way to healthcare specialists. We've reached out to Nuance for a statement on these sale rumors.