Paragraph International and GO Corp. Collaborate on a PenPoint (TM) Product to Recognize Cursive Handwriting

April 3, 1992 — ParaGraph International, A Russian-American business venture, today announced a joint development effort with GO Corp. The two companies are working together to integrate CalliGrapher (TM), ParaGraph’s cursive handwriting recognition product, into PenPoint, the mobile, pen-based operating system from GO Corp. In addition, GO Corp. has agreed to market the resulting product of this cooperative effort.

The agreement between the two companies selects GO as a non-exclusive worldwide distributor and publisher of CalliGrapher. GO will market CalliGrapher to their customers, in addition to GOWrite (TM) — the new, replaceable print-ed character recognition engine from GO Corp. The combination of these two recognition engines reinforces GO’s leadership position in mobile pen computing technology.

“This agreement shows the value of the PenPoint architecture,” stated Esther Dyson, president of EDVENTURE Holdings, “in that it easily absorbs the best of outside technology such as ParaGraph’s cursive recognition engine.”

An early version of CalliGrapher for PenPoint will be demonstrated at the upcoming release of PenPoint on April 16, 1992. The companies expect that it will be available for commercial release later this year. The companies are working together with independent software vendors and key customer accounts to ensure effective integration of this technology into PenPoint. The ability to provide cursive handwriting recognition will stimulate the development of new applications which take advantage of this functionality. The initial product release will be for the English language market.

“We are pleased to be announcing this product, which is the result of extensive collaborative work between the two companies,” stated Bill Campbell, president and chief executive officer of GO Corp. “The relationship with ParaGraph provides PenPoint with another technical advance in ease of use, by allowing users to capture information in a manner which is very comfortable and natural.”

This announcement coincides with the growing interest in pen computing and ParaGraph’s Oct. 7 announcement with Apple Computer. Apple has signed a non-exclusive joint development, licensing and royalty agreement for ParaGraph’s handwriting recognition technology.

ParaGraph’s ability to provide cursive handwriting recognition is a breakthrough for the growth of pen computing, ac-cording to most analysts. Unlike other previously announced recognition systems for pen computers — which provides only “block” or printed character recognition — ParaGraph’s technology is the first writer-independent handwriting recognition system to support both cursive and hand-printed characters.

Pen computers allow a user to write directly onto a digitizing medium (tablet or screen) instead of using a keyboard, and the computer can automatically convert the text to computer readable form.

Stepan Pachikov, president and chairman of the board of ParaGraph International, said, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with GO. Their operating system is a great platform for enhancing the benefits of our intelligent recognition systems. We are extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the creative and dedicated team of PenPoint engineers.”

GO Corp., a privately held company headquartered in Foster City, Calif., develops, markets and supports PenPoint, a pen operating system, and applications designed for mobile users, worldwide.

ParaGraph International markets leading edge technical innovations in the handwriting and text recognition fields to the international marketplace. ParaGraph International has the exclusive right to market all products developed by ParaGraph JV, a Russian/American joint venture formed in 1989. ParaGraph JV is headquartered in Moscow and chartered with the continued development and research for a line of recognition products.

The ParaGraph companies have offices in Moscow, 23 Petrovsky Blvd., Moscow, 103051 and can be reached at 7-095-200-2566 and in the United States, 1035 Pearl St., Suite 304, Boulder, CO 80302 and can be reached at 303-443-8777.

CONTACT:
Michael S. Riemer or Sheila Wilson of ParaGraph International, 303-443-8777,
or
Marcia Mason of GO Corp., 415-345-7400,
or
Kim Tarter of Regis McKenna, 415-354-4486