Sakhr Software Acquires San Francisco-Based Dial Directions

San Francisco -- Sakhr Software, a Washington, DC-based developer of Arabic speech and language software, said on Tuesday that it has acquired San Francisco-based Dial Directions, a developer of speech recognition technology for mobile devices and services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sakhr said that the acquisition will allow it to deliver new technologies to instantaneously translate speech into Arabic. Last year, the two companies teamed to develop technology that allows English and Arabic speakers to speak their native language, hear the audio translation and read the text translation  -- all with an iPhone or Blackberry. "We built a strong working relationship with Sakhr while jointly developing the mobile speech to speech translation product," said Adeeb Shanaa, the CEO of Dial Directions. All of Dial's employees have joined Sakhr, which now has 200 employees. Shanaa will serve as CEO of the combined company, with Fahad Al Sharekh, Sakhr's CEO, becoming chairman. The company currently has more than 100 clients, including the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice.
http://www.sakhr.com 
http://www.dialdirections.com
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