PDF Edit! to be the Flagship Product for SOURCENEXT’s Market-leading Ikinari PDF Family, Available in Over 10,000 Retail Outlets as the First True Alternative to Adobe® Acrobat® in Japan

TOKYO AND BURLINGTON, Mass., March 16, 2006 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAN), a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions, today announced the immediate availability of PDF Edit!, a complete PDF creation and editing application designed specifically for the Japanese market. Nuance also announced that SOURCENEXT, a leading software developer and distributor within Japan, has licensed PDF Edit! and will distribute the product as the flagship of its Ikinari PDF product family. SOURCENEXT has over 400 software titles, which are sold in over 10,000 retail outlets and significant eCommerce sites in Japan. The Ikinari PDF product family has seen record sales in the last two years, with 600,000 units sold in Japan.

“SOURCENEXT is one of the truly remarkable technology companies in Japan, with their Ikinari PDF family outselling even Adobe Acrobat in units within the Japanese retail market,” said John Shagoury, president, Productivity Applications Division, Nuance. “We developed PDF Edit! specifically for retail, government and corporate users within Japan, and believe that SOURCENEXT is a unique partner that will maximize the growing opportunity for affordable PDF solutions in Japan.”

Nuance’s PDF Edit! is available only in Japan, and represents the first true alternative to Adobe® Acrobat® for the Japanese market. The product provides everything needed to view, create, print and edit PDF files, with a cost that makes it an affordable solution for every business desktop.

Key features include:

• Industry-Standard PDF
  Creates 100% industry-standard PDF files that can be read, printed, or processed by popular PDF viewer programs - such as ScanSoft® PaperPort® Professional and Adobe® Reader®. Supports PDF v1.3, v1.4, and the latest v1.5; also supports PDF XML tags.
  
  
• High Quality PDF
  Creates the highest quality PDF files from nearly all Microsoft® Windows® applications, retaining the precise layout of the original document.
  
  
• Superior Creation Speed
  Produces PDF files up to 3 times faster than the leading PDF creation application.
  
  
• Optimized, Small File Sizes
  Creates highly optimized PDF files that are dramatically smaller than the original document. Supports industry-standard compression options, including loss-less, JPG 2000 and enables optimization for the Web.
  
  
• Passwords and Security
  Secure PDF files by requiring others to know a password in order to view or print a document. 40-bit and 128-bit encryption can also be applied to a PDF file with the user able to control whether the document can be viewed, printed, edited, copied or annotated.
  
  
• Automatic PDF-to-e-Mail
  Choose to have PDF files automatically added as an attachment to an e-mail message simplifying the sharing of documents over the Internet.
  
  
• Watermarks and Stamps
  Apply watermarks and stamps to your documents from a pre-made library or create your own. Custom watermarks can be applied from other PDF files or created from within the PDF Create! Assistant.
  
  
• Short-cuts and Application Integration
  Create PDF files from practically every PC application through a printer interface or by using the right-mouse shortcut when clicking on any file in Windows Explorer. Nuance has also integrated toolbar icons for PDF Create! within a number of popular applications, including Microsoft® Word, PowerPoint® and Outlook®.
  
  
• Advanced Font Embedding, Graphics and Page Size Controls
  Supports font embedding for all standard and non-standard fonts, shading and transparency conversions. Select the graphics resolution and control PDF page size and orientation. Supports the creation of custom page sizes and automatically scales in inches, millimeters and points.
  
  
• International Language Support
  Supports international double-byte character sets enabling creation of PDF documents using nearly any Latin, Cyrillic or Asian character set.
  
  
• Does Not Require Adobe® Acrobat®
  Create and view PDF files without the need for any additional software
  
  

PDF Editing Features

• Reorder, Cut, Copy and Paste Pages
  PDF page thumbnails and assembly tools allow you to easily manipulate pages in a PDF document to rearrange, add or delete pages with drag & drop ease.
  
  
• Copy Text, Graphics and more into Microsoft Office
  Have you ever wanted to use a chart or graphic in a PDF within a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation? Now you can with PDF Converter Professional - just select the area to copy, then paste into Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and more.
  
  
• Select, Edit, Cut, Copy and Paste Text within PDF Documents
  Text tools provide an easy way to add, delete, move or modify text within a PDF file. Change colors, fonts, or point sizes with only a few mouse clicks.
  
  
• Select, Resize, Cut and Paste Images
  Easily add, delete, move, reshape or resize images, including individual graphical elements in pie and bar charts without having to manipulate the entire graphic.
  
  
• Add Comments and Markup Documents
  Streamline group collaboration using sticky notes and highlighting tools that allow you to emphasize text or certain portions of documents during the creation or review process.
  
  
• Add and Edit Bookmarks and Hyperlinks
  Add bookmarks and hyperlinks to your documents to quickly find a place in a document or embed a link to important information eliminating wasted time spent searching for information.
  
  
• Attach Application Files, Audio and Video Files
  Make your PDF files more complete and dynamic by adding application, audio or video files.
  
  
• Search for Text or Files
  Use a key word or phrase to find documents on your workstation or network quickly and efficiently.
  
  

About SOURCENEXT

SOURCENEXT, the No.1 PC Software unit sales share holder in Japan for the last 3 years has a proud history of producing a variety of successful software products since its foundation in 1996. It provides over 400 PC software titles from anti-virus, system utilities, document management to edutainment and games. SOURCENEXT has expanded the number of distribution channels to over 30,000 stores through bookstores, convenience stores, supermarkets, and so on. As a software republisher, it has made many successful alliances with foreign partners including Sun Microsystems, IBM, and Buena Vista Games. For more information, please contact at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit http://www.sourcenext.com/en

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN) is the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Nuance, the Nuance logo, ScanSoft, and PaperPort, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with market trends, competitive factors, and other risks identified in Nuance’s SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof.