CALGARY, Aug. 31 /CNW/ - Zi Corporation (Nasdaq: ZICA) (TSE: ZIC) will
assist Sewon Telecom Co., Ltd. with their aggressive plans to expand exports
to Europe and South America by providing eZiText(TM) language interface in
Spanish, Portuguese, English, French and Italian. The initial implementation
phase will see eZiText(TM) embedded in over a million GSM handsets in 2001.
Sewon has licensed eZiText(TM) for use in 24 languages.
"Sewon has secured a contract to deliver 4.5 million GSM and CDMA phones
to Europe and Latin America and we are aiming to achieve ten per cent of the
European market over the next three years," said J.B. Lee, general manager,
Mobile Communications Sales Team, Sewon Telecom. "To support our export
plans, we need a solution that provides a superior user interface and a
language implementation roadmap that can meet our growing demand. Zi was
recommended as a leader in language interface."
Sewon has recently expanded their expertise in the GSM arena and
increased their production capacity by acquiring Maxon, a major Korean GSM
manufacturer. With this acquisition, Sewon is now the second-largest handset
manufacturer in Korea, with a potential production of eight million phones per
year.
"Zi's expertise in user interface has earned the confidence of leading
handset manufacturers like Sewon and has resulted in partnerships with
industry leaders in software design," says Gary Kovacs, senior vice president,
Marketing and Sales, Zi Corporation. "The endorsement of our strategic
partner, Wavecom, reinforced the decision to adopt eZiText(TM) as the language
interface standard for Sewon's growing needs."
eZiText(TM) works in tandem with Wavecom's WISMO(TM) solution to provide
a superior user interface. WISMO(TM) is a fully integrated device that
contains all the software and hardware needed to implement a full range of GSM
Phase 2+ features. In the Sewon implementation, eZiText(TM) will work along
side Wavecom's WISMO2C plug-in modules.
Established in 1988, Sewon Telecom Co. Ltd. is known for its expertise in
manufacturing CDMA handsets and MP3 players. As a part of an aggressive
growth strategy, Sewon recently acquired Korea's second largest GSM
manufacturer, Maxon. Sewon is now focusing its business on the export market
with the creation of Vitzmo brand handsets. A publicly traded company, Sewon
is listed on the Kosdaq Stock Exchange.
Zi Corporation is a leading provider of embedded software technology and
educational products and services. The company's core product, eZiText(TM)
connects people to short messaging, e-mail, e-commerce, Web browsing and
similar applications in almost any written language. Zi's wholly owned
subsidiary, Oztime.com, is China's first Web-based education service provider.
Zi supports its strategic partners from offices in Calgary, Beijing, Hong
Kong, San Francisco, Shenzhen, Stockholm and Tokyo. A publicly traded
company, Zi Corporation is listed on the Nasdaq National Market (ZICA) and the
Toronto Stock Exchange (ZIC). |
