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21st September 2004 - Zi Corporation today announced
the Voq Professional Phone, made by Sierra Wireless
with integrated Zi predictive text technology, is available
in key European and North American markets. The Voq
phone is available through Dutch carrier KPN, U.S. retail
channels, and through key European distributors including
A&C Systems, Cedros, Daimler, Dangaard, Hugh Symons,
Speeka, Xacom, and Yes Telecom for sale in Austria,
Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Nordics,
Switzerland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Zi’s
eZiTap is integrated with Microsoft Windows Mobile software
for Smartphones by the Zi Input Method Editor (IME).
The Voq Professional Phone is the first phone on the
international market to embed eZiTap, which searches
a built-in dictionary and predicts whole words as letters
are multi-tapped on the 12 button keypad, allowing users
to operate the phone with one hand. The more eZiTap
is used, the “smarter” it becomes and the
faster it predicts frequently used words. The Voq Professional
Phone, which was created for business professionals,
offers the best features of a mobile phone, messaging
device, and a PDA, with the addition of a unique, flip-open
QWERTY thumbpad for entering text.
“The pre-integration work Zi did with Microsoft,
one of our key industry partners, allowed us to bring
a differentiated product to market offering user-friendly
features like Zi’s eZiTap predictive text technology
as a standard input mode for use across applications
and services on the Voq phone,” said Derek Evans,
Sierra Wireless Vice President and Managing Director
for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “Working
with Microsoft and Zi have been critical in order to
launch a robust product and fill a unique niche in the
marketplace.”
Glen Morgan, Zi Corporation Senior Vice President of
Global Sales and Marketing, called the launch of the
Voq Professional Phone an important milestone for Zi
because of the first use of eZiTap embedded in a phone
and the working relationship between Zi, Sierra Wireless
and Microsoft on the project.
“The recent launch of the Voq Professional Phone
is the culmination of a significant project for Zi and
the work we have been doing with Sierra Wireless and
Microsoft,” Morgan said. “The Voq Professional
Phone will help demonstrate to the global market that
our predictive text products are the easiest to use
and the most advanced technologies on the global wireless
market.”
“Innovative technology partners such as Zi, with
its eZText and eZiTap text input technologies, will
help users of the Voq phone more easily communicate
on the go using their Windows Mobile-based devices,”
said Julie Wymetalek, manager of the Mobility Partner
Advisory Council at Microsoft Corp.
Zi engineers worked closely with Microsoft's development
team to create an IME that resolves the entire text
input interface and display of Zi's text input technologies
on the Smartphone platform. The IME has been extensively
tested to ensure users experience a familiar Windows
Mobile interface across all the phone's applications
and services. For handset manufacturers, this means
they can implement Zi's text input technologies and
the IME without any additional man-machine interface
(MMI) work and testing.
The Zi IME package for Windows Mobile-based Smartphones
includes a fully developed, localized interface, intuitive
display, and user cues. They combine to deliver a non-intrusive
IME which runs inside any Windows Mobile-based application
requiring text input. For more information about the
Zi IME, e-mail info@zicorp.com.
Wireless Enterprise World 2004
To see Zi’s eZiTap product on the Voq Professional
Phone, visit Sierra Wireless’ stand (D19) at the
Wireless Enterprise World 2004 show in London, United
Kingdom on September 21 and 22, 2004. Event website:
www.wirelessenterpriseworld.com/2004/ent_uk.
About Sierra Wireless
Sierra Wireless is a leader in delivering highly differentiated
wireless solutions that enable our customers to improve
their productivity and lifestyle. Sierra Wireless develops
and markets the AirCard, the industry-leading wireless
PC card line for portable computers; embedded modules
for OEM wireless applications; the MP line of rugged
vehicle-mounted connectivity solutions; and Voq, a line
of mobile phones with easy-to-use, secure software solutions
for mobile professionals. For more information about
Sierra Wireless please visit www.sierrawireless.com.
For more information about the Voq Professional Phone,
please visit www.voq.com.
About Zi Corporation
Zi Corporation is a technology company that delivers
intelligent interface solutions to enhance the user
experience of wireless and consumer technologies. The
company's intelligent predictive text interfaces, eZiTap
and eZiText®, allow users to personalize the device
and simplify text entry providing consumers with easy
interaction for short messaging, e-mail, e-commerce,
Web browsing and similar applications in almost any
written language. eZiNet™, Zi's new client/network
based data indexing and retrieval solution, increases
the usability for data-centric devices by reducing the
number of key strokes required to access multiple types
of data resident on a device, a network or both. Zi
supports its strategic partners and customers from offices
in Asia, Europe and North America. A publicly traded
company, Zi Corporation is listed on the Nasdaq National
Market (ZICA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ZIC).
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