news release

 Zi Corporation


Zi Corporation to debut new user interface technology at 3GSM

New developments to boost handset usability while increasing operator revenues and data services

3GSM Congress, Cannes, France and Calgary, AB, Canada January 27, 2005 - Zi Corporation (Nasdaq: ZICA) (TSX: ZIC), whose technology empowers more than 103 million mobile devices worldwide, will unveil its latest suite of product advancements at next month's 3GSM World Congress in Cannes. Visitors to the Zi stand (no. E21, Hall 2) will view a revolutionary new product that will radically change handset usability and drive consumer uptake of data services; the latest versions of its flagship eZiText® and award-winning eZiTap™ predictive text input products with new languages; and the recently acquired Decuma® handwriting recognition interface for Chinese, Japanese and alphabetic languages.

"The acquisition of Decuma and the announcement of our new user interface solution set the stage for Zi in 2005," said Zi Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing Glen Morgan. "Our portfolio of products will enable users for the first time to easily access all the functionality and capabilities of their phones and handhelds."

Zi's new product offering addresses usability as the means for driving operator service revenues. This revolutionary interface solution helps wireless users access the full-breadth of applications and services of today's increasingly advanced, feature-rich devices. Users can now take advantage of more handset applications and operator services - like MMS, mobile browsing and other data-centric services - all in a way that is quick and easy.

"Ease of use is a key theme for us at 3GSM. Visitors to our stand will see what we have achieved for operators, manufacturers and the end-user; not only that, they will be able to try our new solutions for themselves," stated Morgan. "3GSM is the perfect venue to introduce the newest advances to our predictive text input suite of products, to showcase Decuma handwriting recognition and to reveal a completely new technology to improve the user interface experience."

"Zi has achieved a number of significant advances on the product front in the last 12 months. eZiText and eZiTap are more fully featured than the offerings of any of our competitors and we believe this positions us as the supplier of choice," added Morgan. "As a company, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to further simplify and enhance the use of mobile wireless devices and solidify our innovation leadership position."

Zi's product portfolio now includes more than 40 different language databases, an additional 70 language interfaces and the ability to meet texting needs in more than 130 countries. Demonstrations of all the company's products will be available at the Zi stand during 3GSM.

For media interviews or tours at 3GSM please contact Brian Dolby with GBCS PR on 07813 833464 or email brian@gbcspr.com.

About Zi Corporation

Zi Corporation (www.zicorp.com) is a technology company that delivers intelligent interface solutions to enhance the user experience of wireless and consumer technologies. Zi provides manufacturers and operators with a full range of intuitive and easy-to-use input solutions; including eZiText for one-touch predictive text entry, eZiTap for intelligent multi-tap entry and Decuma for natural handwriting recognition. The solutions dramatically improve the usability of mobile phones, PDAs, gaming devices and set-top boxes and the applications on them; including, SMS, MMS, e-mail and Internet browsing. 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).

This release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbour provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding future events and the future financial performance of Zi Corporation that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including: the growth trends in the input technology industry; new product development; global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment; financial and operating performance of Zi's OEM customers and variations in their customer demand for products and services; the ability to successfully acquire businesses and technologies and to successfully integrate and operate these acquired businesses and technologies; dependence on the introduction and market acceptance of new product offerings and standards; rapid technological and market change; matters affecting Zi Corporation's principal shareholder; litigation involving patents, intellectual property, and other matters; the ability to recruit and retain key personnel; Zi Corporation's ability to manage financial risk; currency fluctuations and other international factors; potential volatility in operating results and other factors listed in Zi Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any projections in this release are based on limited information currently available to Zi Corporation, which is subject to change. Although any such projections and the factors influencing them will likely change, except to the extent required by law, Zi Corporation will not necessarily update the information. Such information speaks only as of the date of this release.

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Zi, eZiTap, eZiText and Decuma are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Zi Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information:

3GSM Media:
GBCS PR
Brian Dolby / Bethany Caldwell
+44 (0) 115 950 8399
brian@gbcspr.com / bethany@gbcspr.com

Investor Relations:
Allen & Caron Inc
Jill Bertotti (investors)
jill@allencaron.com
Len Hall (business media)
len@allencaron.com
+1 (949) 474-4300

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