Consumers Can Create Personalized Video Greetings and Change Their Image; a
Celebrity, an Avatar Character Lip Syncing to Their Voice
LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Consumers can now
create their own personal video greeting on their mobile phones for any of the
different people in their life -- from a boyfriend or girlfriend to a
supervisor at work to a family member. At Demo Mobile today, Openwave Systems
Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), the leading provider of open software products and
services for the communications industry, announced the availability of
Openwave Video Voicemail and Openwave Video Portal, to help operators offer an
enhanced and personalized user experience for 3G networks and phones.
Openwave Video Voicemail and Portal will make it easier for operators to
drive the much-needed awareness and adoption of 3G services, by delivering an
intuitive user experience for all of their 3G services. Operators can benefit
from an easy-to-implement technology that consolidates a number of their
services onto one platform (voicemail, video voicemail and video content).
"The lesson that the industry at large has learned from gaming and
entertainment applications is that personalization is key for driving revenue
in the operator community," said Richard Wong, general manager of messaging at
Openwave. "By giving end users the option to leave different types of video
messages for different people in their social network or work environment,
operators can perfect the user experience by giving users a voice and
character that's truly their own. As a result, operators can attract and keep
subscribers with this service."
Examples of customized video greetings, which users can modify for
different audiences, include:
-- Designing a personal greeting that allows subscribers to record
themselves. Examples include a parent recording a message for their
child away on an overnight stay at camp where the child gets the
message, "Goodnight honey. I will see you tomorrow." A business case
scenario is recording a video for a supervisor with the message, "I am
away from the office please leave me a message."
-- Among the celebrity greeting options, users can opt to select "Dirty
Harry" with a video voicemail of Client Eastwood saying, "You've got to
ask yourself a question -- Do I feel lucky?" to their
boyfriend/girlfriend or friend.
-- For gaming buddies, they can pick a character, like Avatar or a
character from Doom, to leave their messages and the "animatron" will
lip sync the message with the end user's voice recorded.
Openwave Video Voicemail differs from other video solutions on the market
because it offers more than just a traditional "record-and-send" video
message. Received in a similar fashion as a voicemail greeting, Openwave Video
Voicemail offers a highly personalized greeting that allows users to
personalize different video images for any audience and also provides a video
tutorial that guides the end user through the set-up of the new service. The
service activates when users make a phone call and the receiving party does
not pick up.
Openwave's Video Voicemail and Video Portal are part of Openwave's
IP-based voice messaging platform, which allows operators to run multiple
services, making it easier to integrate the products needed to deliver an
intuitive messaging experience. Openwave's messaging products are designed
with all subscribers in mind so subscribers on legacy phones will still
receive multimedia and video messages in a format best designed for their
handset.
"Openwave is helping operators attract new users and build loyalty with
existing customers by offering the newest applications and services supported
by third generation networks or 3G." said Chris Shipley, executive producer of
DEMO conferences. "When it comes to wireless data, consumers demand
personalization; Openwave is taking data services beyond gaming, ringtones,
and wallpapers to the next generation of messaging where end users can
personalize the messaging experience through video messaging."
About Openwave
Openwave Systems Inc. is the leading independent provider of open software
products and services for the communications industry. Openwave's breadth of
products, including mobile phone software, multimedia messaging software
(MMS), email, location and mobile gateways, along with its worldwide expertise
enable its customers to deliver innovative and differentiated data services.
Openwave is a global company headquartered in Redwood City, California. For
more information please visit http://www.openwave.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations,
plans or prospects for Openwave Systems Inc. that are based upon the current
expectations and beliefs of Openwave's management and are subject to certain
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements. In particular, the
following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: (a) the
ability to make changes in business strategy, development plans and product
offerings to respond to the needs of our current, new and potential customers;
(b) risks associated with the development and licensing of software generally,
including potential delays in software development and technical difficulties
that may be encountered in the development or use of our software; (c) the
ability to successfully partner with other companies; (d) increased global
competition; and (e) technological changes and developments.
For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please
refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to the Company's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2004, and
any subsequently filed reports. All documents also are available through the
SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at
http://www.sec.gov or from Openwave's Web site at http://www.openwave.com. The Company
assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in
this document.
NOTE: Openwave and the Openwave logo are trademarks and or registered
trademarks of Openwave Systems Inc. All other trademarks are the properties
of their respective owners.
For more information please contact:
Openwave Systems Inc. Openwave (Europe) Ltd.
Nicole Arena George Blizzard
+1-650-346-4293 Bite Communications Ltd.
nicole.arena@openwave.com +44-20-8834-3460
georgina.blizzard@bitepr.com
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