Microsoft to buy Tellme Networks

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft is currently in talks to acquire Tellme Networks, a developer of Web-based voice technology and may announce a deal as early as this week. Tellme's current service offerings center on voice technology that allows spoken requests to be automatically processed and answered. Microsoft is increasingly looking toward adding web-based voice services to its products and rivals like Google and Skype certainly pose a threat to in this space. Acquiring a company like Tellme would grant Microsoft access to cutting-edge voice technology in a relatively short amount of time. According to some analysts, the deal could top $800 million.

For more on the acquisition:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)