CALGARY, Oct. 2 /CNW/ - Zi Corporation (NASDAQ: ZICA) (TSE: ZIC) is
certified under China's newest text entry standards, GB/T18031 and GB18030.
Announced by the Chinese government in March 2000, these two new standards
were adopted to manage issues regarding text input on electronic devices. Zi
has received notice that its eZiText(TM) technology has passed the evaluation
for these standards through the Ministry of Information Industries and the
State Language Commission.
"This certification affirms Zi Corporation's leadership in intuitive
language interface and demonstrates Zi's commitment to the certification
process," says Gary Kovacs, senior vice president, Marketing and Sales, Zi
Corporation. "Manufacturers who license eZiText(TM) can enter the Chinese
market confidently, knowing that they are using the language input solution
that meets all of China's national standards."
Any device which uses a digital keyboard must comply with the GB/T18031
standard, including products such as mobile phones, set top boxes and
computers. Input and output specifications are outlined in the standard,
confirming that a stroke and component based input is the preferred format for
data entry. GB/T18031 also indicates that standards for stroke orders and
component sequences must be followed.
The new language standard, GB18030 is an extension of the previous
standards GB2312 and GB 13000.1. Under GB18030, the number of defined Chinese
characters rises from 20,902 characters to 27,484, accommodating characters
relating to the financial services sector and the Internet. Zi has obtained a
certificate from the State Language Commission for GB2312 and Zi believes that
it is the only company thus far, who has gained certification under the
GB13000.1 standard.
The standards will be enforced by the China Information Technology
Standardization Committee and the State Bureau of Quality and Technical
Supervision. Devices that do not conform to the relevant GB standards face the
possible risk of being forced out of the market.
To receive certification, language input systems are evaluated by the
China Testing Centre of the China Information Technology Standardization
Committee on parameters such as user interface, character input speeds and
coding. Zi's intuitive method of text-entry was recognized as a system that is
easy for users to learn and use. eZiText(TM) met all the coding standards and
allowed for quick character-entry, out-performing the standard requirements. |
