Telstra Corporation Selects Phone.com WAP Platform for Australian Market
Australia's Largest Telecommunications Company Will Introduce WAP-based Services for its Mobile Customers
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Phone.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: PHCM - news), and Telstra Corporation Limited, Australia's largest telecommunications company, today announced at the Unwired Universe Conference that Telstra Corporation has licensed the Phone.com(TM) Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-compatible UP.Link(TM) Server. Under the terms of the agreement, Telstra will use its Phone.com software license to provide new wireless Internet service offerings to its Australian mobile customers.
(Photo: newscom.com )
Phone.com's software will enable Telstra to offer mobile customers with WAP-capable mobile phones access to a full range of Telstra information services and resources.
These new Telstra services can be accessed through mobile phones equipped with a WAP-compatible microbrowser such as the Phone.com(TM) UP.Browser(TM) microbrowser.
''Telstra chose to partner with Phone.com because their technology solutions will enable us to quickly develop and deploy new services, ensuring that we have a steady flow of new applications to meet the changing, diverse needs of our customer base,'' said Mr. Jonathan Marchbank, managing director, Telstra Mobiles. ''In the future, we expect WAP will provide not only interaction with Internet based information, such as transport timetables, flight arrival and departures and telephone directory information services, but users will be able to check bank accounts and carry out transactions as well as gain access to on-line ticketing with airlines.''
''Our agreement with Telstra shows that Phone.com continues to deliver on our strategy to provide world class telecommunications companies the fastest time to market for scalable and reliable WAP services.'' said Alain Rossmann, president and chief executive officer of Phone.com. ''Telstra's leadership position in the GSM world, combined with Phone.com's innovative and mature products, will form a solid foundation for a wealth of advanced services for the Australian public.''
About Telstra Corporation Limited
Telstra Corporation Limited is Australia's principal telecommunications company. Telstra offers a broad range of telecommunications and information services. The company's principal activities include providing telephone exchange lines to homes and businesses, supplying local and long distance telephone calls in Australia and international calls to and from Australia, supplying mobile telecommunications services and providing a comprehensive range of data, Internet and on-line services and, through its affiliates, pay television. Telstra is also the principal provider of directory services in Australia.
About Phone.com
Phone.com, Inc. is a leading provider of software that enables the delivery of Internet-based services to mass-market wireless telephones. Using its software, wireless subscribers have access to Internet- and corporate intranet-based services, including Email, news, stocks, weather, travel and sports. In addition, subscribers have access via their wireless telephones to network operators' intranet-based telephony services, which may include over-the-air activation, call management, billing history information, pricing plan subscription and voice message management. Phone.com is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California and has regional offices in London and Tokyo. Visit phone.com for more information.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Phone.com's limited operating history, potential fluctuations in Phone.com's operating results, uncertainties related to Phone.com's long sales cycle and reliance on a small number of customers, the company's dependence on the acceptance of its products by network operators and wireless subscribers, the company's ability to adequately address the rapidly-evolving market for delivery of Internet-based services through wireless telephones, the need to achieve widespread integration of Phone.com's browser in wireless telephones, competition from companies with substantially greater financial, technical, marketing and distribution resources and the ability of Phone.com to manage a complex set of engineering, marketing and distribution relationships. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Phone.com's prospectus dated June 10, 1999 and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NOTE: The Phone.com name and logo and the family of terms carrying the ''UP.'' prefix are trademarks of Phone.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other company, brand and product names may be marks that are the sole property of their respective owners.
For more information please contact:
Phone.com, Inc.
Rowan Benecke
PR21
415-439-8811
rowan_benecke@pr21.com
Phone.com (Europe) Limited
Holly James
Text 100 Ltd.
44 (0) 181 242 4104
hollyj@text100.co.uk
Phone.com Japan K.K.
Hiroko Kimura
Phone.com Japan K.K.
81 3 5325 9204
hiroko@corp.phone.com
Telstra
Virginia Murphy
Telstra Corporation
61 3 9252 1336
vmurphy@vmcsmoss.telstra.com.au
SOURCE: Phone.com, Inc.
biz.yahoo.com
Tegic Communications Extends Instant Messaging to Wireless Phones With Next Generation Of T9 Text Input Software
Company Will Provide Technology To Enable Wireless Connectivity to the Internet
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 1999-- Tegic Communications announced today its upcoming version of T9® Text Input software for wireless phones will be available with an embedded instant messaging or ''chat'' application.
The application will enable easy integration by wireless service providers, Internet service providers (ISPs) and Internet portals seeking to extend the desktop instant messaging experience to the mobile consumer.
Tegic's instant messaging technology will allow wireless subscribers to easily send instant text messages to people on ''buddy'' lists as well as to see at a glance if individuals are online--either by wireless phone or PC--all via the subscriber's wireless phone. User anonymity can also be maintained through the use of aliases.
Tegic will deliver the instant messaging application in three forms: as an embedded application bundled with T9 Text Input software; as an application for SIM Toolkit to address the large installed base of GSM wireless phones; and in a form that is fully compatible with Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) phones. The new chat application will allow wireless service providers around the world to provide instant messaging to their subscribers across a variety of networks including GSM, TDMA and CDMA, seamlessly linking wireless users to each other and to users on the Internet.
To date, manufacturers representing more than 85 percent of the annual worldwide wireless phone production have licensed Tegic's T9 Text Input software. T9 Text Input allows users to quickly and easily enter text into their wireless phone using just one key press per letter. The software has become the global standard for text input on wireless devices and it represents the key enabling technology for instant messaging on wireless phones.
''Given the increasing use of instant messaging on the desktop, this is a significant development,'' explained David Strom, publisher of Web Informant, a weekly email publication that focuses on Internet technologies and issues. ''I can't think of one ISP who is not interested in extending its reach to the mobile phone platform. Tegic Communications software makes this possible and by embedding instant messaging or chat in its next generation of T9 Text Input, the company is ensuring it will be a ubiquitous feature on next generation wireless phones.''
Instant messaging software has become one of the most popular uses of the Internet, letting users chat throughout the day with their friends. Tegic's instant messaging application will be compatible with popular PC-based instant messaging applications.
''With T9 Text Input software and Tegic's instant messaging, we have provided a compelling solution for making instant messaging easy and intuitive on mobile phones,'' explained Bill Valenti, executive vice president of business development for Tegic Communications. ''Mobile phone growth worldwide is truly explosive, with an estimated 250 million new digital handsets projected to be shipped this year. This phenomenon, together with the incredible growth in instant messaging on the Internet, created a perfect opportunity for us to introduce this extension of Tegic's software products.
About Tegic's Instant Messaging
Tegic's expertise in text input technologies, embedded systems, and in maximizing the usability of small wireless devices with limited resources uniquely positions the company to deliver a compelling instant messaging application for wireless phones.
With Tegic's instant messaging application, subscribers are able to chat simply by turning on their wireless phone. The user's buddy list is automatically updated so they are able to check which buddies are online, whether by wireless phone or PC. With just a few key presses, users are able to send a message that is delivered in real-time to the desired buddies.
About T9 Text Input
By incorporating T9 Text Input into mobile communications products, companies are solving the fundamental problem of how to quickly and easily type messages. T9 Text Input makes text entry more efficient by allowing users to compose text messages with just one key press per letter.
Each key on a telephone keypad has more than one letter -- a single press on the ''5'' key could be ''J,'' ''K,'' or ''L.'' T9 Text Input automatically compares users' key presses to an internal linguistic database to determine the correct word. For example, entering the word ''call'' into a mobile phone takes just four key presses with T9 Text Input compared to ten key presses using conventional multi-tap text entry.
Tegic's patented T9 Text Input software currently supports Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. T9 Text Input for the Chinese language includes Simplified and Traditional stroke-based Chinese, as well as phonetic Pinyin and BoPoMoFo input. Upcoming versions of T9 Text Input will include Eastern European and Middle Eastern languages.
About Tegic Communications
Tegic Communications, the world leader in alphabet-based and Chinese text input technologies, was founded in 1995 to develop and market text input technologies for the telecommunications and computing industries. The company has worldwide patents, both issued and pending, on T9 Text Input and has licensed the technology to major consumer electronics and communications equipment manufacturers worldwide.
T9 Text Input is licensed to manufacturers representing more than 85 percent of the annual worldwide wireless phone production including Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Benefon, Bosch, Fujitsu, Maxon, Mitsubishi, NEC, NeoPoint, Philips, Qualcomm, Sagem, Samsung, Siemens, Sony, Texas Instruments and others.
For more information about Tegic Communications or T9 Text Input, call 206/343-7001, send e-mail to info@tegic.com, or visit the Company's Web site at www.tegic.com.
Tegic is a trademark and T9 is a registered trademark of Tegic Communications. All other trademarks or registered trademarks belong to their respective holders.
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