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WizCom Technology launches the new Quicktionary®2 Kanji -
Portable Japanese reader for WW distribution
The product was jointly developed with Japan 21 (Wizcom distributor
in Japan)
Tokyo, June 23, 2008 - WizCom Technologies Ltd. (WizCom) (Prime
Standard: WZM, IL 0010830706), a global provider of portable,
handheld scanning and translating Pens that enable and enhance
reading-related activities and business productivity, announced today
in a press conference in Tokyo the launch of its new product, the
Quicktionary 2 Kanji Reader that scans Kanji and translates the words
into English or Japanese. The company intends to sell the product in
Japan and around the globe including to worldwide community of
Japanese language students. Orders for the new products have already
been received from Sweden, the UK, and other European distributors as
well as from Far East countries including Hong Kong, China and
Taiwan.
Japan 21 Inc. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, www.japan21.co.jp ) that hosted the
press conference in Tokyo already started to sell the product in
Japan on April 10th. and has obtained a great media attention from TV
and Radio stations, Magazines and Internet news portals. The WW
retail price of the new product is $279 (29,800 Yen in Japan)
excluding tax...
According to Michael Kenan, CEO of Wizcom Technologies "There are
many good dictionary platforms available today, such as books, PC
based dictionaries, web-based dictionaries and electronic devices,
however, none of the conventional dictionary platforms have the
easy-to-use input method WizCom has developed for defining Kanji
character strings if a user is not familiar with the Kanji text he
is reading".
Amir Berenson, Wizcom VP for Business Development and Sales,
participated in the press conference in Tokyo. He emphasized to the
audience that "the Quicktionary2 Kanji Reader Pen addresses a major
challenge to non-Japanese students by giving them a fast and easy way
to understand and translate Kanji to English via a simple scan of the
words and idioms. A case study was done in the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem last month, using Japanese language students who were
handed the product after a fifteen minute basic introduction to the
Pen. The response to the Pen as compared to the current products
available was simple overwhelming. The students noted that the
Quicktionary2 Kanji was more accurate, quicker and easier to use,
with a more intuitive user interface that any of the products they
were currently using".
The product has been welcomed by Wizcom distributors around the
globe. The multiple dictionaries available on the Pen serve the needs
of not only Japanese language students but the wider Japanese
community as well, as the Pen not only translates from English to
Japanese and vice-versa, it also contains a built-in Japanese to
Japanese dictionary.
The product supports all 2,000+ Japanese daily-used Kanji characters
and is suitable for all Japanese readers, from primary school age to
senior citizens who do not like to use standard dictionary
platforms. This product is very suitable for people who can speak
Japanese but are unable to read it because of the Kanji barriers.
It has taken more than two years of joint development efforts between
Wizcom Technologies in Israel and Japan21 linguists to implement the
Japanese OCR and dictionary databases into the product. "Language
always developed before technologies and technologies always need to
absorb unreasonable language requirements", said Mr. Mike Kato, CEO
of Japan21.
The Quicktionary2 Kanji Reader's key features are:
- World-first Japanese OCR and Japanese dictionary combination
in a portable platform
- Three dictionary databases from very popular Sanseido Daily
Concise dictionary series
- Unique algorithm to manage Japanese OCR problems arising
from the combination of three characters sets
- Unique algorithm to divide Japanese strings into
corresponding word segments
- English OCR for English to Japanese and Japanese OCR for
Japanese to Japanese and Japanese to English
- Horizontal and vertical mode for Japanese scanning
- Text-to-speech for English words and idioms
For additional information regarding WizCom Technologies, please
visit www.wizcomtech.com.
About WizCom Group
WizCom Technologies Ltd. is the world's leading producer of personal,
portable scanning Pens that enable and enhance reading-related
activities, text processing and business productivity. These
pocket-sized, user-friendly devices enable people to understand and
use printed material, anytime and anywhere, without disrupting their
reading process. Our Pens are an invaluable support tool for students
of English as a first or second language, as well as people working
in multilingual environments, enhancing their fluency and
accelerating reading comprehension.
Ligature Ltd. is a world-leading developer of Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) technologies and applications. The company offers
an innovative approach to OCR-based solutions for specialized markets
partnering with OEMs, VARs and system integrators incorporating
CharacterEyes into software applications and hardware products.
Galil Microwaves Israel (2003) Ltd. is a third-party manufacturer and
assembler of electronic modules for microelectronic and microwave
components.
For further information, please contact:
SCHWARZ Financial Communication
Frank Schwarz
Investor Relations
Germany
Phone +49-611-174539811
Fax +49-611-174539829
schwarz@schwarzfinancial.com
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WizCom Technologies Ltd.
8B Hamarpe St. Jerusalem
WKN: 915856;
ISIN: IL0010830706; Index: Prime All Share, TECH All Share;
Listed: Freiverkehr in Börse Berlin, Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf,
Freiverkehr in Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse zu Hamburg, Freiverkehr
in Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover,
Freiverkehr in Bayerische Börse München, Freiverkehr in Börse
Stuttgart,
Prime Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Geregelter Markt in
Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse;
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