Telus set to launch Zi’s Qix mobile search service: Carrier claims to be first in North America with offering

Canadian operator Telus Mobility said it will become the first North American operator to offer Zi Corp.’s mobile search service.
The service, dubbed Qix, is designed to allow wireless uses “to access the full range of features on their device simply and intuitively,” the carrier said in a press release. Users can type in letters of contacts or multimedia content and are presented with a list of possible matches, similar to Ajax-enabled online searches.
The idea is to remove barriers to mobile data revenues by reducing the number of clicks required to access the stuff.
“This will vastly increase our customers’ mobile experience,” said Stephen Ospalak, Telus’s VP of subscriber devices. “The fact that Qix is an innovative and user-friendly engine and is compatible with the multiple handsets and PDAs we offer were key factors in our decision to choose this engine.”
Zi first announced the Qix application in 2005 at the CommunicAsia conference in Singapore.