PHONE.COM AND CONVERSA TO DELIVER DEVICE-BASED VOICE-ACTIVATED MICROBROWSER
Collaboration will enable voice navigation of UP.Browser microbrowser on handsets
Conversa, the
award-winning developer of speech recognition technologies, and Phone.com, Inc.
(Nasdaq:PHCM), a leading provider of mobile Internet software, applications and
services, announced today that the companies have signed an agreement that calls
for the interface of Conversa's advanced speech technology with the Phone.com™
WAP-compatible UP.Browser™ microbrowser. The two technologies working side by
side will enable wireless phones to launch and control Phone.com's UP.Browser
with spoken commands.
"We expect our agreement with Conversa and our joint development efforts
to offer the first voice navigation-enabled WAP browser," said Jeff Damir,
vice president of the device product group at Phone.com. "Conversa's
device-based embedded recognizer is going to enable hands-free control, a long
awaited milestone in the evolution of the wireless Internet."
The UP.Browser microbrowser, currently licensed to more than 30 leading
wireless phone manufacturers, enables Internet access from wireless devices.
Optimizing embedded speech recognition technology from Conversa for the
UP.Browser is expected to result in the first device-based voice-navigation user
interface for Internet-enabled mobile phones. Mobile phone users will then be
able to easily and quickly access Internet-based information by spoken commands.
Conversa's speech recognition technology complements existing methods of input
enabled by the UP.Browser: pen and keypad input.
"This effort with Phone.com is an unparalleled opportunity to forge the
next level of Internet navigation, through enhanced capabilities for cellular
users," said Dave Anastasi, CEO of Conversa. "This type of momentum
with pioneering industry leaders demonstrates the acceptance of the rapidly
growing wireless Internet device market."
The wireless Web is growing at an exponential rate - industry analyst firm
Strategy Analytics predicts that more than half a billion Web-enabled phones
will be shipped by 2003. Easier navigation through voice command also means
Internet content providers could likely see increased access to their online
information. Wireless carriers are expected to also benefit through increased
use of their WAP services and systems.
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