Company Press Release:
 
Tegic Introduces Hindi T9® Predictive Text Input On New LG Phones

New Delhi, (India) November 28, 2006 - Tegic Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL, today announced that LG Electronics has launched Hindi T9® Text Input software in its latest GSM phone model, LG KG110. Hindi T9 predictive text input software was ported to the LG GSM handset by local LG engineers at the LG engineering center in Pune, Maharashtra State, India.

Hindi T9 software in Version 7.4 offers users advanced word completion functionality, enabling mobile users to press just a few keys to pull up the desired word. Further, stem locking, which allows users to highlight the first few characters of a word to trim down the word choice list, helps users to more quickly identify and complete their intended word. Hindi T9 software makes it easy for Indian consumers to communicate with friends and family using Hindi SMS on their LG KG110 GSM phone.

“As industry leaders in providing predictive text, we are pleased to be part of the LG KG110 GSM model launch with Hindi T9 predictive text input,” said Mr. Mridul Srivastava, Senior Country Manager (India), AOL Mobile. “Our objective in India is to work with the needs and requirements of the carriers and handset manufacturers and respond to the growing demand in India for an easy-to-use Hindi language text entry product. We are confident that Hindi T9 will enable consumers to communicate most effectively in their daily lives.”

Presently, the all India mobile subscriber base has surpassed 130 million in October this year and India shall probably expected to achieve 145-150 million by December 2006 (Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI). This explosive growth in subscriber numbers may be attributed to favorable telecom policies and industry commitment to deliver increased access to subscribers and the introductions of ever improving software solutions like the Hindi T9.

“India is a very important market for us and our efforts have always been to ensure that we provide the best technology and feature-rich phones that are ingeniously designed and expertly built for our Indian consumers,” said Mr. H.S Bhatia, National Product Group Head, LG Electronics GSM group. “This latest offering complements LG’s philosophy of a unique Hindi SMS experience in the latest LG KG110 with added features of 65K colour screen, GPRS and 500 Phone Book Memory space and more.”

Futhermore, the handset is bundled with operators, which means that the handset would surely address the mass market and even the common man who cannot understand English would be able to make full use of the handset.


About LG Electronics India:
Founded in 1997, LG Electronics India (LGEI) is a leading consumer electronics, home appliance and IT manufacturing company. In late 2003 LG entered the GSM mobile phone segment in India with the launch of two high-end handsets and today has a diverse portfolio of 11 GSM models.  LG shall launch approximately ten more phone models this year with exciting new features such as a five-mega pixel camera and touch pad.  In October 2005, LGEIL launched its first GSM phone manufacturing plant at Ranjangaon, near the city of Pune in Maharashtra State. By opening this plant LG became the first company in India to start a fully operational GSM phone manufacturing factory.

About T9® Text Input Software:
T9, a leading alphabet-based and Chinese, Japanese and Korean character-based messaging software, is the flagship product of Tegic, and is available in more than 60 languages. By incorporating T9 software into mobile communications products, companies are solving the fundamental problem of how to quickly and easily send mobile messages and browse the Web. More than 800 mobile phone models available throughout the world today include T9 software and the technology has been licensed to major consumer electronics and communications equipment manufacturers worldwide. For more on T9, visit http://www.T9.com.

About Tegic Communications Inc., a Unit of AOL’s Wireless Division:
Tegic is a leading provider of enabling software for mobile data services, including market-leading T9 software. A wholly owned subsidiary of AOL LLC, Tegic was founded in 1995 to develop and market communication technologies for the telecommunications and computing industries. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington (U.S.A.) and has offices in London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, New Delhi, Singapore and São Paulo. Tegic is on the Web at http://www.tegic.com.