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Advanced Recognition Technologies and Synaptics Join Forces

27 July 1999

Advanced Recognition Technologies and Synaptics Join Forces to Market Complimentary Technologies

    SIMI VALLEY & SAN JOSE, Calif.--July 27, 1999-- Advanced Recognition Technologies (ART)(R) and Synaptics(R) Corporation have entered into an agreement to jointly market and develop user interface solutions for handheld computers, wireless phones and automobiles. The pairing of ART's handwriting recognition technology and Synaptics touch-sensing technologies will provide a highly accurate and simpler text input solution than what is currently available to manufacturers of these products.
    ART and Synaptics are no strangers to each other, each having used these complementary technologies for demonstration purposes at trade shows and on-site customer meetings. The smARTwriter(R) handwriting recognition technology was first introduced on a Synaptics TouchPad(TM) at the GSM World Congress in Cannes, France earlier this year on a wireless phone, paving a new way to dial phone numbers, send SMS messages and email and browse the Internet.
    Demonstrating the ability to use handwriting recognition to quickly and safely navigate through an automobile's GPS system, ART's smARTcar(TM) concept combines ART's handwriting recognition with Synaptics advanced touch-sensing technology to simplify searches for streets and cities. smARTcar allows users to simply hand-write the name of a street or city on a Synaptics TouchPad with their finger, eliminating the need to endlessly scroll though long lists of choices to select the desired location.
    "This agreement will dramatically enhance our ability to develop exciting, new products and fulfill our vision of leading the natural interface revolution in the computing and consumer appliance industry," said Sid Agrawal, Vice President of Marketing for Synaptics. Richard McCaskill, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing for ART continued, "By combining innovative and complementary capabilities, Synaptics and ART will strengthen each others' future marketing efforts and product offerings of user interface solutions to manufacturers of automobiles, wireless phones, laptop computers and many other products worldwide that can benefit from simple text input methods."
    Andrew Seybold, industry analyst and publisher of The Outlook, an industry newsletter covering the convergence of mobile computing and wireless communications stated, "This relationship between ART and Synaptics and the combination of their technologies will fortify the new trends forthcoming in wireless computing. Applications like Internet access, email and SMS messaging in wireless communication devices and automobile navigation input systems should become easier to master and use because of this relationship."

About ART

    Advanced Recognition Technologies, Inc. (ART) develops and markets innovative, technologically superior products for the control of cellular phones, computer applications and electronic devices in response to the spoken human voice or naturally handwritten letters or symbols. ART is based in Southern California, with an R&D subsidiary in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and sales offices in the United States, Israel, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. ART has been shipping handwriting and voice recognition software for Windows CE-based handheld PCs and palm-size PCs since 1996, and is available for purchase exclusively from the Company's web site. ART licenses its smARTspeak and smARTwriter voice and handwriting recognition technologies to industry leaders such as Philips, Casio, LGIC, IBM/CommQuest, Lucent/Optimay, Harris Corporation, NeoPoint, Inc. and others. Over 10 million wireless phones with ART's smARTspeak Voice Activated Dialing feature have shipped so far this year. More information on ART and its products is available on its Web site, http://www.artcomp.com.

About Synaptics

    As the technology innovator in neural-based systems, a market leader in TouchPad devices, and an expert in natural interface solutions, Synaptics is known as the Human Interface Company(TM). Founded by Federico Faggin and Carver Mead, Synaptics develops advanced computing, consumer electronics, and communications input device solutions that adapt to the way people work, naturally and intuitively. Synaptics' broad technology portfolio and technical expertise apply to products as diverse as notebook and desktop computers, hand-held PCs (HPCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, cellular phones, smartphones, Internet appliances, automotive systems, security devices, and electronic toys. Synaptics' current products include the TouchPad, the established notebook pointing device standard, the StampPad(TM), world's smallest TouchPad for handheld devices and sub-notebooks, the TouchWriter(TM), a TouchPad that responds to touch or stylus, and QuickStroke(TM), a fast and accurate Chinese handwriting recognition application. Synaptics is a California-based, venture backed, private company. The company can be contacted at (408) 434-0110, or on the Internet at www.synaptics.com, or via email at sales@synaptics.com.

    Synaptics(R) is a registered trademark of Synaptics, Inc. StampPad(TM), ButtonBoard(TM), QuickStroke(TM), TouchWriter(TM), and the Human Interface Company(TM) are trademarks of Synaptics, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.