For immediate release (Calgary, AB Canada)
April 11, 2000
 

Calgary, AB (April 11, 2000) - Zi Corporation (NASDAQ: ZICA) (TSE: ZIC) confirms that its eZiText^TM software technology conforms to China’s new standards for text input on electronic devices. China has adopted official standards governing stroke and component-based input. The new standards incorporate the previous standards GB2312 and GB13000.1 advanced by the State Language Commission. Zi is the first and only company to have a product, which received State Language Commission certification under both previous standards.

"Zi has advanced the use of a stroke and component based-input system for six years," says Antoine Blondeau, president and chief operating officer for Zi Corporation. "The adoption of these standards by China’s State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision endorses our approach as the most intuitive and logical for native Chinese speakers."

These standards can be likened to those used in North America for the position of letters and symbols on a keyboard and the way that letters are combined to form words. Zi has compared the requirements in the new standards with its software technology and concluded it is in full compliance. eZiText^TM is available to manufacturers seeking certification under the new standards.

The State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision has published two new standards; GB/T18030-2000 and GB/T18031-2000. GB/T18030-2000 is an extension of the existing State Language Commission standards and includes expanded names for people and places as well as mirroring the way Chinese is commonly written and taught in schools. Under the new standard, the number of characters defined rises to more than 27,000 from 20,902. The GB/T18031-2000 standard confirms that a stroke and component-based input system is a preferred format for consumer electronics, such as cell phones, computer keyboards, set-top box remote controls and personal digital assistants. The standard also establishes the preferred arrangement for mapping strokes onto an electronic device.

Zi Corporation is a leading provider of embedded software technology and educational products. The company’s core product, eZiText^TM, connects people to short messaging, email, e-commerce, web browsing and similar applications in almost any written language. Zi’s wholly owned subsidiary, Oztime.com, is China’s first education service provider. Zi supports its strategic partners from offices in Calgary, Beijing, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Shenzhen and Stockholm. A publicly traded company, Zi Corporation is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (ZICA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ZIC).

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The information in this press release is based on Zi Corporation’s current expectation and assumptions, and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such risks include, among others, general business and economic conditions and competitive actions as well as the risks and uncertainties referred to in Zi Corporation’s 20-F for the most recent calendar year.

For further information, please contact: 

Karen Attwell 
Manager, Investor/Media Relations 
Phone: (403) 233-8875 
Email: investor@zicorp.com
Web site: http://www.zicorp.com/