Kirusa, a leading developer of value added mobile services, further consolidated its technology leadership position in mobile value added services by announcing that it has been granted a patent “Synchronization Among Plural Browsers” by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent has particular impact on multimodal value added services for mobile networks.

While wireless data access is clearly a boon to electronic device users, there is a notable deficiency in the current wireless data access technology: a user must generally choose to interact with the data either using the voice components of the wireless device (i.e., microphone and speaker), or using the visual components (i.e., screen and keypad), but cannot use both at the same time. The ideal interface for certain applications is, in many cases, not visual or voice alone, but rather a combination of both.

One problem that impedes the integrated and combined use of voice and visual interfaces to data is that each mode of communication generally requires its own browser. A visual browser permits the user to navigate through the contents using the screen and keypad. Similarly, a voice browser, which is generally a software component separate from the visual browser, permits the user to navigate through the voice content using the microphone and speaker. Because the browsers are separate, it is difficult to switch seamlessly back and forth between the two, since the voice browser is unaware or not “synchronized” with what the visual browser is doing and vice versa.

This is where Kirusa’s Invention comes in. There was a need for a browser synchronization technique that overcomes the drawbacks of either visual or vocal usage alone. The present invention provides techniques for the synchronization of plural browsers–e.g., the synchronization of a visual browser with a voice browser at various levels of granularity. These techniques have been used by Kirusa to build a multimodal platform for developing mobile multi-modal applications.

David Berkley, Chief Scientist, Kirusa says, “This patent allows Kirusa to provide the most powerful technologies to our customers while protecting them in all aspects of our technology solutions. The broad methodology for synchronizing modes in mobile systems is a fundamental aspect of the Kirusa Multimodal Platform (KMP), which forms the basis of the Kirusa product line. Our flagship product, the Kirusa Voice SMSTM application, is based on KMP. The platform enables numerous capabilities for value added services. These capabilities, including such advanced modalities as video, are key to enabling mobile operators to exploit the full value of their 3G networks.”

About Kirusa’s Voice SMS solution – KV.SMS
KV.SMS enables mobile users to send SMS messages with voice and reply to SMS messages with voice. The solution is based on Kirusa’s patent pending technology, and works on all handsets and networks. KV.SMS features the industry’s most intuitive user interface as well as many traffic-stimulating features, such as its Click2Listen feature for one-click listen and reply, MMS integration, voice information services, and interconnection between mobile network operators. KV.SMS can be deployed in a matter of weeks, and its fast user adoption has led to explosive revenue growth for Kirusa’s customers.

About Kirusa
Kirusa is an industry leader and globally recognized provider of mobile value added services that leverage the freedom of multimodality. Kirusa’s solutions include the hugely successful KV.SMS, the world’s most advanced “Voice SMS” solution, which allows mobile users to send and reply to SMS messages with voice, and works on all handsets and on all networks. The solution offers the industry’s most intuitive user interface, Click2Listen for single click listen and reply functionality. KV.SMS is built on Kirusa’s patent pending technology and its highly reliable and scalable multimodal platform. The platform’s ability to manage and synchronize data and voice interactions, plus its integration with IMS and 3G standards, enable customers to cost effectively deploy additional revenue-generating services such as messaging, search, information, and entertainment applications. Kirusa’s solutions are deployed worldwide and used by over 3 million mobile subscribers. Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives and technologists, Kirusa has sales offices in Paris, France; Delhi, India; and Hong Kong; with a research and development facility in Bangalore, India. For more information, please visit www.kirusa.com.