BSQUARE and Sierra Wireless Deliver Voq Professional Phone

11/15/2004 - BSQUARE (Nasdaq: BSQR) announced its cooperation with Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR – TSX: SW) to expedite delivery of the Voq Professional PhoneTM to mobile customers. By leveraging BSQUARE’s deep expertise in Microsoft Windows Mobile software for Smartphones, Sierra Wireless was able to extend its internal development team and bring the Voq Professional Phone to market faster.

Developed by Sierra Wireless, the Voq Professional Phone is a pocketable Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Smartphone powered by an Intel® XscaleTM processor. The product offers a flip-open QWERTY thumbpad and easy-to-use software solutions, including VoqMailTM, a secure, “Always There”TM e-mail solution that requires no additional enterprise server or desktop redirector software to purchase, install, and maintain. The phone is available in North America and Europe.

“In the planning phase of the Voq Professional Phone, we sought a software engineering partner with expertise in Windows Mobile Operating Systems,” said Jim Kirkpatrick, CTO, Sierra Wireless. “BSQUARE’s experience on the Windows Mobile platform complemented our software product requirements and our aggressive timelines. BSQUARE has been a valuable asset to the Sierra Wireless team throughout the Voq Professional Phone’s development process.”

In the development of the Voq Professional Phone, Sierra Wireless and BSQUARE collaborated in:

  • Porting the OEM Adaptation Layer (OAL) and adapting the Smartphone OS kernel to the unique hardware design
  • Integrating of the Smartphone audio functionality with GSM/GPRS radio subsystems
  • Developing a best-in-class power management system
  • Integrating the Input Method Editor (IME) to ensure the successful operability of the flip-open QWERTY thumbpad, shortcut buttons, and navigation joystick
  • Developing device drivers for several hardware components
  • Quality assurance testing

“The new Voq Professional Phone is a great example of the innovation that Windows Mobile makes possible for new classes of smart devices,” said Carey Butler, vice president, professional engineering services, BSQUARE. “We are pleased that our consulting and engineering services expertise helped Sierra Wireless develop the powerful, high quality Voq Professional Phone for enterprise customers.”

“Windows Mobile software provides a flexible and robust platform that enables hand-set makers like Sierra Wireless to bring innovative devices to market,” said Jane Gilson, group product manager of the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft Corp. “BSQUARE’s systems integration expertise in adapting the underlying Windows Mobile software was instrumental in helping the Voq Professional Phone’s distinctive hardware design.”

BSQUARE and Windows Mobile BSQUARE is an industry leading expert in Windows Mobile software solutions and assists the world’s leading OEMs build innovative Windows Mobile-based Smartphone and Pocket PC devices. BSQUARE offers comprehensive consulting and engineering services, including bootloader and kernel adaptation, device driver development, user interface design, radio interface layer integration, technical support and custom Windows Mobile training.

About Voq
The Voq Professional PhoneTM is a new class of mobile phone that offers a flip-open QWERTY thumbpad and easy-to-use software solutions for business users, including secure, serverless, always-there e-mail. Based on Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 software for Smartphones, the Voq Professional Phone incorporates the best features of your current mobile phone, a messaging device, and a PDA - in one. For more information about Voq Professional Phone or VoqMail email solutions, please visit http://www.voq.com.

About BSQUARE
BSQUARE is a leading global provider of software, engineering services and consulting for the smart device market. Since 1994, BSQUARE has provided world-class device makers with the building blocks necessary to design, develop, and test innovative products quickly and cost effectively. A sample of BSQUARE customers includes Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC, Sierra Wireless, HTC, Microsoft and others. BSQUARE is one of Microsoft’s largest value-added partners worldwide for Windows Embedded software, a Gold-level Systems Integrator of the year and a leading Windows Mobile solutions provider for Smartphone and Pocket PC. BSQUARE is a Texas Instruments-licensed Independent OMAPTM (Open Multimedia Application Platform) Technology Center. The company’s SDIO Now! technology has been adopted by over 75 top-tier smart device makers. For more information, visit BSQUARE at www.bsquare.com or call 888-820-4500.

BSQUARE is a registered trademark of BSQUARE Corporation. Voq is a trademark of Sierra Wireless, Inc.

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