Kirusa Teams With Nuance to Deliver a Suite of Multimodal Solutions

EDISON, NJ - Kirusa, a provider of multimodal platforms enabling wireless applications delivery, announced availability of a comprehensive suite of multimodal solutions designed to run on speech recognition software from Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN). Powered by Nuance's Nuance 8.0 speech recognition software and Nuance Vocalizer 3.0 text-to-speech software, and by the Kirusa multimodal platform, the multimodal solutions will enable wireless carriers and service providers to offer applications such as directory assistance, messaging, and field force automation, with integrated voice and visual interfaces. Such solutions allow wireless phone and PDA users to access information by speaking a command or using visual inputs such as typing or tapping with a stylus. The application results are then delivered visually on the wireless device screen, by voice, or through innovative combination of both voice and visual modes. Kirusa has joined the Nuance Partner Alliance, and Nuance has joined the Kirusa Application Developer Program. The alliances will enable Kirusa to market the integrated products to mobile carriers and to enterprises around the world. Kirusa's multimodal platform supports SMS, sequential, and simultaneous multimodality. SMS multimodality addresses the deployed base of SMS-capable handsets to deliver engaging multimodal experiences, while sequential multimodality allows users to alternate between voice and visual (WAP) interactions on mass market, off-the-shelf mobile handsets. Simultaneous multimodality allows users to use both voice and visual interactions at the same time on advanced handsets, including those based on platforms such as Microsoft's SmartPhone, Symbian, Qualcomm's BREW, Palm's PalmOS, and Microsoft's PocketPC. "The combination of Kirusa's multimodal software and Nuance's speech software is a powerful one," said Chuck Berger, president and CEO, Nuance. "Together we can provide our mutual customers with the most accurate, scalable and reliable multimodal solutions available on the market today." "Nuance's industry leading speech technologies, especially for large vocabulary server based speech recognition and authentication, and a vertically integrated voice platform, fit well with our architecture, and with the needs of our customers," said Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO and founder, Kirusa. "Our alliance with Nuance extends our technical and marketing leadership, and widens our ability to bring multimodality to a larger set of users."