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Zi Corporation's eZiText® Embedded in New Mobile Handsets To Be Launched in China by Legend Group Ltd
Companies Also Jointly Developed New Chinese Personal Dictionary for Advanced Wireless Messaging Applications
CALGARY, AB, December 31, 2002 - Zi Corporation (NASDAQ: ZICA) (TSX: ZIC), a leading provider of intelligent interface solutions, today announced that its market leading eZiText technology is embedded in a new line of mobile handsets to be launched for sale in China during the first quarter of 2003 by China's leading information technology (IT) company, Legend Group Limited ("Legend") (HKSE: stock code 992). eZiText is a truly predictive one-touch text input technology that makes the user interface to mobile, hand-held devices simpler, faster and more personalized.
"We chose Zi Corporation as our technology partner for our new line of mobile handsets because of the quality and depth of its support resources and the technical superiority and flexibility of the eZiText technology," said Si Yijian, director of technology cooperation of the Legend Research Institute. "Legend has accumulated many unique and innovative technologies during its many years of experience in research and development, enabling the Group to quickly turn its mobile handset technology into core technology and launching competitive mobile handsets that best suit the needs of users in China. Additionally, Legend's strong brand recognition provides many advantages for its mobile handset business," added Yijian.
Legend has embedded eZiText in both English and Chinese into a new line of GSM handsets positioned to address the mid to high-end of the mobile handset market in China. Zi and Legend also jointly developed a new Chinese personal dictionary based on Zi proprietary technology for incorporation into a new line of Legend mobile handsets that is the basis for an advanced family of personalized messaging applications.
The license agreement with Legend marks the expansion of a relationship that was first established three years ago with the licensing of eZiText for use in Legend's set-top boxes for interactive televisions. Zi now has licensing agreements with 16 manufacturers in China, the world's fastest growing and largest wireless market opportunity.
"It is a strong endorsement of eZiText and our company to have been chosen to be the intelligent interface solution for Legend's new line of mobile handsets," said Gary Mendel, vice president of sales and marketing, Zi Corporation. "Legend is not only the leading IT company in China, it is also a leading brand in Asia. Legend is a well thought of brand with a solid reputation and it has entered the wireless market with a strong commitment to delivering advanced voice, data and messaging solutions using the best available technology," added Mendel.
About Zi Corporation
Zi Corporation (www.zicorp.com) is a market-driven technology company delivering intelligent interface solutions to enhance the user experience of wireless and consumer technologies. The company's core technology products, eZiTap™ and eZiText, connect people to short messaging, e-mail, e-commerce, Web browsing and similar applications in almost any written language. eZiNet is a new network-based platform that enables handset manufacturers and network operators to provide users with access to media rich content and information stored on a network, despite the memory restrictions of the mobile device. 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).
About Legend Group Limited
Legend Group Limited (HKSE stock code: 992; ADR stock code: LGHLY) is the largest IT corporation in China. The Legend brand personal computer (PC) accounted for a market share of 27.5 percent in the China market in 2001. The Legend brand PC is also the number one best seller in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) and accounted for a market share of 11.9 percent. Apart from manufacturing and sales of PCs, the major businesses of Legend also include provision of IT services and Internet services, manufacturing and sales of hand-held devices and contract manufacturing business.
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For more information:
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Investor Inquiries: Allen & Caron Inc Jill Bertotti Phone: (949) 474-4300 E-mail: jill@allencaron.com |
Zi Corporation Dale Kearns Chief Financial Officer Phone: (403) 233-8875 E-mail: investor@zicorp.com |
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Media Inquiries: Allen & Caron Inc Len Hall Phone: (949) 474-4300 E-mail: len@allencaron.com |