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Digit Wireless, LG Electronics and TELUS Mobility announce production of the world's first Fastap(TM) enabled mobile phone

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/Mar/1025238.htm

ATLANTA, March 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at the CTIA Wireless 2004 conference, Digit Wireless, consumer electronics giant LG Electronics and Canadian wireless carrier TELUS Mobility announced an agreement to produce the world's first Fastap(TM) enabled mobile phone.


Digit Wireless's Fastap keypad allows mobile phone users to quickly and intuitively type text messages and other data using letter, number and punctuation keys arranged neatly around the standard keypad on a mobile phone.
Fastap brings keyboard functionality directly to a standard-sized mobile phone, offering both business users and consumers an intuitive interface designed specifically for easy text messaging and other mobile data applications, said Chris Hare, President of Digit Wireless. We expect early partnerships with industry leaders such as TELUS Mobility and LG Electronics to drive widespread adoption of Fastap enabled phones.
Said Neil Strother, senior analyst with In-Stat/MDR's wireless research group: Mobile text messaging has made great strides in North America, but widespread usage remains elusive. One of the limiting factors has been the traditional telephone keypad. But Digit Wireless' unique and easy solution breaks the mold, and should enable some serious growth for text messaging.
TELUS Mobility is the first wireless provider in the world to publicly commit to Fastap technology, and plans to offer Fastap enabled mobile phones exclusively in Canada in 2004. TELUS Ventures, a corporate investment fund dedicated to creating strategic alliances with entrepreneurial organizations, has invested directly in Digit Wireless, enabling the innovative technology company to expand its worldwide presence.
TELUS Mobility's longstanding recognition that mobile phones are not just for phone calls anymore has placed us in a North American leadership position in messaging and wireless Web offerings. Our partnership with Digit Wireless and LG Electronics to introduce the world's first Fastap enabled phone is as natural a fit for us as the Fastap keyboard is on a mobile phone, said Robert Blumenthal, Vice President of Products and Services at TELUS Mobility.
LG Electronics, the first wireless handset manufacturer to announce production of Fastap enabled mobile phones, has an established reputation as a wireless technology innovator. Its successful LG 5450 camera phone, already offered across Canada by TELUS Mobility, has been modified as a demonstration unit to carry Fastap keypad software and hardware. The company is preparing a production model of a similar phone for introduction by TELUS Mobility in 2004.
LG is excited to partner with Digit Wireless and TELUS Mobility to offer the first handset that incorporates the truly innovative Fastap technology, said Jae Ham, Vice President, CDMA Handsets, LG Electronics. LG is committed to providing cutting-edge wireless phones that are compact, easy to use and unique in their functionality - and our exclusive Fastap enabled phone certainly fits our mandate.
About Digit Wireless
Digit Wireless is a technology innovation and licensing company that launched the Fastap keypad, a small, simple, direct-entry interface for wireless and portable products. The company licenses its designs and technology to mobile device manufacturers. A recipient of a number of technology and business awards, Digit Wireless is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with offices in Washington, D.C., London and representation in Asia. For more information visit the company website at digitwireless.com.
About TELUS Mobility
TELUS Mobility provides its 3.4 million clients across Canada with a full suite of wireless voice, Internet and data services through its PCS and Mike digital wireless networks. For more about TELUS Mobility, please visit telusmobility.com.
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is the largest telecommunications company in Western Canada and the second largest in the country, with more than $7.1 billion of annual revenue, 4.87 million network access lines and 3.4 million wireless subscribers. The company provides subscribers with a full range of telecommunications products and services including data, voice and wireless services across Canada, utilizing next generation Internet-based technologies. TELUS was a premier founding supporter of the successful bid to bring the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to Canada. For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.
About LG Electronics
Established in 1958 as Korea's pioneer consumer electronics company, LG Electronics is a major global force in Electronics and Information & Communications products. More than 55,000 employees working in 73 overseas subsidiaries and marketing units around the world, strengthen LG Electronics' core competencies in three main business companies: Digital Appliance, Digital Display and Media, Telecommunication Equipment & Handset.
The Telecommunication Equipment & Handset Company provides total solutions ranging from wired and wireless handsets to telecommunication equipment. LG Electronics is steadily expanding its world market share in CDMA, GSM and W-CDMA (UMTS) through innovation and the development of leading- edge technologies in next-generation wireless telecommunications.
LG Electronics is focused on promoting Home Network and Mobile Network businesses based on cutting-edge Multimedia Application Technology along with Information and Communication Technology as its core business areas.
LG Electronics' goal is to enable the intelligent networking of digital products that will make consumers' lives easier than ever. For more information, please visit http://www.lge.com/.
Media may also access additional photos and electronic media materials online at: telusmobility.com/presskit/new_product.shtml
B-roll footage - satellite co-ordinates:
March 22 from 1 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Anik E2
C Band Analog
Transponder 8B
Audio subcarrier 6.2 and 6.8
Downlink Frequency 4020 vertical

TELUS Mobility


CONTACT: For more information or photos, media may contact DigitWireless: Mira Genser, Cell: [phone], [e-mail];TELUS Mobility: Julia Quinton, Cell: [phone],[e-mail]; LG Electronics: Steve Preiner,Tel: [phone], [e-mail]