In a partnership with Zi Corporation, UTStarcom has begun shipping Internet Protocol television “set-top-boxes” in China, featuring eZiText, a predictive text-input solution. The Alameda, Calif. company (NASDAQ: UTSI) signed a licensing agreement with Zi Corporation in November of 2007, and both companies plan to work together on other products and services.

“We have chosen Zi Corporation again because of the quality of its text-entry solutions and superior technical support, especially in Asia,” said BaiJun Zhao, UTStarcom senior vice president. “We are very focused on developing our strategic base of IP solutions and Zi provides us with the text input capabilities we need in Asia.”

eZiText “learns” usage patterns and new vocabularies, and has predictive entry and word completion abilities. It is for use by electronic manufacturers and telecom carriers.

“We are very pleased that UTStarcom continues to use our award-winning products to succeed in the global marketplace,” said Milos Djokovic, Zi Corporation president