Neolectum - Mobile applications - Broadband technology - Satellite communications - Smartphone - Cellphone - Wireless-

Kirusa and Vodafone Essar

Voice SMS messages across India

One of India‚s leading cellular service providers, Vodafone Essar, launched Voice SMS service in 16 circles across India. With the launch of this service, any Vodafone customer can send a Voice SMS message to a mobile subscriber, anywhere in India, for a fixed price of 75 paise (approximately USD 0.01) per minute. The Voice SMS service is available to both prepaid and postpaid subscribers. Vodafone Essar has brought the service to market using the Voice SMS solution from Kirusa, the world‚s leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value-added services.

Fun and easy to use, this new service enables Vodafone subscribers to send Voice SMS messages to each other in their own voice, rather than by typing. Voice SMS is an enhanced mode of communication enriched with the sender‚s voice, language and emotions, and offers complete flexibility in retrievals.

Vodafone‚s Voice SMS service does not require any special handsets, or handset settings, for using this service. To send a message, a Vodafone subscriber simply dials * and the mobile number of the person to whom he wishes to send the message to, speaks for 30 seconds and disconnects. If the recipient is a Vodafone subscriber, he will receive a text SMS notification and can dial *0* to hear the Voice SMS. Old Voice SMS can be retrieved by dialing *1*.

He also has the option of replying, forwarding, saving or deleting the Voice SMS messages. Subscribers who are not on Vodafone network will get a text SMS notification with an embedded DirectListen˙ number which, when dialed, takes them to the message directly. The message recipient can select to reply after listening to the Voice SMS.

Vodafone subscribers will pay 75 paise per minute (approximately USD 0.01) to send a Voice SMS. Listening to the Voice SMS for the first time is free of charge. Subsequent retrieval of a Voice SMS is charged at 75 paise per minute. Replying to and forwarding a Voice SMS will also be charged at 75 paise.

Commenting on the launch, Harit Nagpal, Director Marketing and New Business at Vodafone Essar says, “We are delighted that our subscribers will now have another option of reaching out to their friends, family and business associates”.

Kirusa has deployed its Voice SMS application, integrated with HP Opencall Media Platform, in the Vodafone network across India.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Erwan Menard, Vice President and General Manager of Communications and Media Solutions at HP, commented, “Vodafone Essar is building customer loyalty with this highly innovative service enabled by Kirusa and HP”. He added, “The HP OpenCall Media Platform and Kirusa‚s Voice SMS solution create a powerful combination that will help Vodafone deliver a rich communications experience for its millions of wireless customers”.

“We are excited to work with Vodafone to bring Voice SMS to its subscribers across India. I am sure that with Vodafone entering this market, both the usage and subscriber awareness will accelerate, leading to increased ARPU and incremental revenues”, sayd Taranjit Singh Batra, VP Sales of Kirusa. The adoption of the Voice SMS service by Indian carriers and consumers is allowing Voice SMS to enter a mass adoption phase like text SMS.

18-11-08 

Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular license for Mumbai. Vodafone Essar now has operations in 21 circles with over 56.70 million customers (* Figures from Cellular Operators Association of India, October 31, 2008).

Kirusa is the world‚s leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value added services. Kirusa‚s solutions include the hugely successful KV.SMS˙, the world‚s most advanced “Voice SMS” solution that has been selected by more than twenty five carriers around the world. The Voice SMS solution allows mobile subscribers to send and reply to SMS messages with voice. Kirusa‚s solution works on all handsets and on all networks, and offers the industry‚s most intuitive user interface, with features such as Direct Listen˙ for direct access and reply to messages, Speed Codes˙ for quickly sending messages, group messaging, mobile number portability, background music, interconnection, international Voice SMS.

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Symbian in China market

Symbian Acquires Personnel and Technology from Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology as part of Global R&D Strategy

Symbian Limited, today announced the acquisition of personnel and technology from Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd. (‘MoGenesis’), a leading developer of smart OS mobile applications for the Chinese market. The acquisition is part of Symbian’s commitment and strategic growth in the Chinese market, significant to the continuous development of Symbian OS™, the market-leading open operating system for advanced data-enabled mobile phones known as smartphones.

Joining Symbian Software Beijing Co. Limited will be the engineers and management team of MoGenesis, including the CEO, Dennis Kung, who has been appointed as the new General Manager for Symbian in China, spearheading Symbian product development in the region. The team brings years of accomplished engineering experience within mobile platforms including Symbian OS and essential product creation capability that will help accelerate Symbian’s R&D operations in Beijing.

Symbian OS is licensed to the world’s leading handset manufacturers and to date, over 165 million Symbian smartphones have shipped worldwide to over 250 major network operators. During the third quarter of 2007, Symbian continued to lead the global smartphone market, with its licensees shipping 20.4 million Symbian smartphones worldwide resulting in a healthy growth of 56% since the third quarter of 2006.

Commenting on the acquisition, Nigel Clifford, Chief Executive, Symbian, said, ‘The acquisition will play a key role in Symbian’s global R&D strategy for our world-leading customers. China is one of the fastest growing markets for smartphones in the world and we will leverage our new Chinese resources to increase Symbian OS global product development. Symbian achieved 60% smartphone OS market share in China with 77% year on year growth, according to one analyst (Canalys) in Q207. We intend to continue growing our sales and our presence in this very vibrant market.’

Dennis Kung has an impressive track record within the high-tech industry. Before founding MoGenesis, he held two senior management positions at Microsoft Corporation where he worked for eleven years. In addition, Mr. Kung worked as a technical consultant for Andersen Consulting (known as Accenture) in the United States.

Dennis Kung, said, ‘My team and I are extremely excited to be part of Symbian’s long term vision in China. With its market leading position, Symbian is able to provide world-class career prospects for my engineers and for new recruits in Beijing. We welcome Symbian’s plans for strategic development and feel confident we can succeed in contributing our unique expertise to the company’s global success.’

Symbian opened its new sales and marketing office in Beijing in January 2007, later adding its new R&D centre in August 2007. Symbian Software Beijing is playing a vital role in Symbian’s strategy for sustained global leadership, whilst deepening its engagement with local customers and partners.

Source: Symbian (14-11-07)

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Kirusa grows in Pakistan through China Mobile subsidiary

Zong Rings in 'Keh Do' Voice SMS in Pakistan 

CMPak Limited, Pakistan (ZONG), a 100% subsidiary of China Mobile, announced the launch of “Keh Do”‚ (Say It) Message on its network. The Voice SMS solution has been sourced from Kirusa, the world‚s leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value added services. This is Kirusa‚s third deployment of Voice SMS in Pakistan.

ZONG KehDo Message will change the way people interact with each other. It allows mobile subscribers to send a quick vocal message. This benefits the sender by reducing the time and cost to relay a message. The receiver benefits by picking up the voice message at a convenient time, and being able to reply to the message. Moreover Voice SMS conveys emotions better than plain written text. All prepaid and postpaid subscribers of ZONG can send Voice SMS messages to any mobile number across Pakistan.

To bring “Keh Do” Message to the subscribers, Kirusa has incorporated its Voice SMS application and multimodal platform along with NMS Vision VXML media platform in ZONG‚s network. Kirusa has partnered with Aradiom, a company based in Karachi, to deliver the solution.

ZONG‚s subscribers can easily and quickly send a Voice SMS by dialing * followed by the recipient‚s phone number, recording a short message in their own voice and pressing the send button. The recipient will get an SMS notification and will be connected to the Voice SMS once he dials a predefined number in the notification. For listening to the Voice SMS, ZONG subscribers can also dial *0* for new messages and *1* for old message retrievals. A subscriber has the option to reply to a message.

ZONG has also launched International Voice SMS, allowing ZONG‚s subscribers to send a Voice SMS to people across the globe whenever convenient, without having to worry about time zone differences or the high cost of international voice calling. The recipient is able to retrieve the Voice SMS with a local call, and reply to it easily.

A ZONG subscriber dials *00 and the international number; records a voice message; and then hangs-up to send the message. The recipient gets an SMS from the ZONG subscriber, with an embedded Direct Listen˙ link, which is a local number in the country of the recipient. Kirusa's patented technology enables the recipient to click on the Direct Listen link to directly listen to the message. This is the first deployment of International Voice SMS by any mobile operator in Pakistan.

ZONG subscribers can send the ŒKeh Do‚ Voice SMS at a nominal price of PKR 1.5 (appr. USD 0.02). Repeat retrievals of a Voice SMS message are also charged at PKR 1.5 (appr. USD 0.02). For International Voice SMS, sending a Voice SMS is charged at PKR 3 (appr. USD 0.04) and retrievals are also charged at PKR 3 (appr. USD 0.04).

Chief Operating Officer ZONG, Mr. Zafar Usmani, said, “ZONG is geared to offer personalized VAS products to individuals, companies, and small businesses. “Keh Do” Message is an innovative service relevant for all subscriber segments in Pakistan. We are delighted to have worked with Kirusa in bringing this popular service to our subscribers.”

Dr. Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO of Kirusa, said, “Kirusa is focused on bringing innovative messaging products to mobile users. The Voice SMS service will enable ZONG subscribers to communicate more frequently, and with greater ease, furthering the revenues for ZONG. The deployment at ZONG further strengthens our commitment to the Pakistan market.”

Hassan Salahuddin, CEO of Aradiom, said, “We value the strong partnership we have formed with Kirusa. Aradiom‚s local expertise coupled with Kirusa‚s innovative technology will enable a seamless Voice SMS experience for ZONG subscribers.”

ZONG is the first International brand of China Mobile being launched in Pakistan. It is meant to empower and liberate the people of Pakistan in every nook and corner of the country. • Kirusa‚s solutions are deployed worldwide and used by millions of Mobile subscribers. Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives and technologists, Kirusa has sales offices in Mexico City (Mexico); Buenos Aires (Argentina); Delhi (India); and Abu Dhabi (UAE); with a research and development facility in Bangalore(India).

Source: Kirusa: 3-9-08

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