PINGAR DEBUTS CHINESE SEARCH PLATFORM AT SHANGHAI EXPO

Major step for NZ firm gives access to the market of a billion people

Shanghai, 22 July 2010 – Pingar, the New Zealand-tech company that has developed  the next generation ‘intelligent’ search engine, today in Shanghai unveiled its Chinese-language version of the Pingar search platform.

Pingar’s newest application is now available as a beta release for pilot testing with selected clients in Hong Kong and mainland China. The traditional and simplified Chinese versions of Pingar were developed in association with New Zealand universities and Hong Kong-based business partners.

Today’s launch at the Shanghai Expo marks a significant milestone in Pingar's Hong Kong and mainland China market entry strategy.

Says Pingar’s CEO and co-founder Peter Wren-Hilton, “Over the past year we’ve begun discussions with key clients for the Chinese Pingar application. We’re delighted to have them join us here today. China provides Pingar with unique opportunities to bring innovative New Zealand technology to the market. With both the NZ – China Free Trade Agreement and the very active support of NZTE and MFAT in both Hong Kong and China, the opportunities for Pingar here are enormous.”

Pingar’s Chinese operations are based out of the Hong Kong Science and Innovation Park, where Pingar has partnered with Compose Systems, a major developer of print publishing solutions, to build its Asian operations.

Tom Sit, Managing Director of Compose Systems says, “Working together, Pingar and Compose can target major publishers in the region and offer them something truly unique. We see that Pingar’s unique aggregation platform gives our clients a competitive advantage in an information critical age and an age when monetising content is a hot topic.”

In short, Pingar changes the face of mainstream enterprise and internet search. Pingar’s solution goes inside data documents, finds the content the user is seeking and then places it into a dynamically generated PDF document, rather than just presenting a list of links like the traditional search model. As the company likes to say: “it takes the browsing out of browsing.”

Pingar is visiting the Shanghai Expo with a delegation of Bay of Plenty business representatives and will this evening demonstrate the new application to a number of invited dignitaries, academics and publishing figures from NZ, Hong Kong and China at a formal dinner inside the NZ pavilion.

Following today’s launch, Pingar’s executive team will visit Yantai in Shandon province in China to discuss joint research projects and further developments with the city’s universities.

MEDIA RELEASE -  9 June 2010

PINGAR’S IMPRESSION SEARCH PLATFORM TO MAKE ITS MARK ON THE WEB

New Algorithm Developed With AUT Marks Even Faster and More Refined Search Results

Wellington, 9 June 2010 - Pingar, the Tauranga-based company that ‘takes the browsing out of browsing’ with its next-generation ‘intelligent’ search platform, today launched its new search algorithm ‘Impression’ at the 2010 Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Wellington.

Pingar’s Impression has been developed with Professor Wai Yeap at Auckland University of Technology along with his team of artificial intelligence experts using a $1.7M grant from the Foundation of Research, Science and Technology. AUT’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR) is one of the key research centres in New Zealand and part of the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences.

“What Professor Yeap and his team at AUT have done is deliver an algorithm that will radically speed up the delivery of key document-based information to enterprises and businesses looking to minimise the cost of desk-based research. This algorithm has been optimised to work with FAST Search for SharePoint and Microsoft SharePoint 2010” says Peter Wren-Hilton, Pingar founder and CEO.

Professor Yeap says that he and his team are very proud of the part they played in developing and commercialising Pingar's technology.

“The Impression platform is an exciting step forward. It is very much the next-generation of search technology and at the cutting edge of technology available today. We are confident that the search results will speak for themselves once the platform is unleashed – faster delivery of data and even more internal efficiencies for companies from reduced time retrieving information – when this is translated across a large enterprise the ongoing cost savings will be significant,” says Professor Yeap.

Pingar is launching a series of Vertical Sector search solutions at the same time as additional value-added services to Microsoft SharePoint enterprise users.

“We decided to develop vertical search solutions targeting specific sectors such as pharmaceutical, legal and finance so that in-house teams can more easily narrow down the time spent on search and produce greater efficiencies. These sectors are good examples of knowledge-heavy industries where there is a lot of very industry-specific terms and jargon which will benefit greatly from a more focused, enhanced search approach,” says Wren-Hilton.

Pingar will be showcasing its search platform technology at the Shanghai World Expo on July 22 in a special event supported by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The presentation will highlight Pingar's ability to apply its semantic search algorithms to traditional and simplified Chinese text and return detailed search results as dynamically customised PDF documents.

ENDS

For more information please contact:
Peter Wren-Hilton, Managing Director, Pingar, Mobile +64 21 791 120
Professor Wai Yeap, CAIR, AUT University, +64 9 921 9565
Julien Leys, JML Communications, Ph +64 9 358 2828, Mobile +64 21 655 598
julien@jmlcommunications.co.nz

Note to editors – to learn more about the Pingar search platform works please see a short video presentation on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rwbf56g66k&feature=related

About Pingar

Established in 2006, Pingar has developed a semantic search platform that returns comprehensive search query results inside formatted PDF or XPS documents.

The company demonstrated its Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Search solution at the 2009 Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas, during October 2009. Based in Tauranga, New Zealand, Pingar currently has offices in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Pingar’s technology was developed in cooperation with the University of Waikato (WaikatoLink) and Auckland University of Technology and has received significant support from New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and the Foundation for Research Science & Technology.

For more information, please visit: www.pingar.com

MEDIA RELEASE - 29 MARCH 2010
                 
PINGAR ANNOUNCES CHINESE SEARCH PLATFORM

Marks closer collaboration between Hong Kong and NZ and expansion for NZ tech firm

Hong Kong, 29 March 2010 - Pingar, the New Zealand-tech company that has developed the next generation ‘intelligent’ search engine, announced today in Hong Kong that it is creating a Chinese-language version of the Pingar search platform.

Pingar also unveiled plans to open an office in Silicon Valley, CA, in the second half of 2010. Pingar is releasing its Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 application installers on May 12 to coincide with the official Microsoft release date of the SharePoint Server 2010 product.

The announcements of Pingar’s overseas growth came as part of a program to celebrate the international success of New Zealand firms and to mark today’s signing of the Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) between Hong Kong and New Zealand. New Zealand’s Minister of Trade Tim Groser and Minister for Ethnic Affairs Pansy Wong are touring Hong Kong to assess how firms in the region can work together under the new CEP.

The ministers visited Pingar’s offices at the Hong Kong Science and Innovation Park, which opened in early 2009. Pingar has partnered with Hong Kong’s Compose Systems, a major developer of print publishing solutions, to build its Asian operations.

Says Pingar’s CEO and co-founder Peter Wren-Hilton, “We’re excited by the welcome we’ve received in Asia and look forward to entering the US market later in the year. Through workings with our Hong Kong partners we’ve identified key clients and demand for a Chinese version of the Pingar product. As such, we’re developing versions of the platform in both simplified and traditional Chinese, which is a major step for Pingar.”

Wren-Hilton added, “We look forward to realising what this market and the US offer.  Asia and the US have become major areas of focus for Pingar.”

Hong Kong is New Zealand’s ninth largest export trade market and worth approximately $823 million per year. The market is also strategically placed to benefit from growth in the Chinese and regional economies.

Asked to gauge what the agreement means for New Zealand companies like Pingar, NZ Trade Commissioner to Hong Kong and Macau Sharon-May McCrostie who attended the function said, “There are immense opportunities for Kiwi companies in Hong Kong, and the CEP provides certainty for New Zealand businesses either already active in this market, or looking to do business here. New Zealand companies that take a strategic, pro-active approach to engagement with Hong Kong and China are the ones that are best-placed to maximise the opportunities that this region offers. It’s great to see a high tech growth company such as Pingar doing just that, and I encourage other New Zealand companies to take a similar approach.”

The traditional and simplified Chinese versions of Pingar will be further developed in association with local universities. Pingar’s newest application will be demonstrated at the 2010 Shanghai Expo in July and will be available as a beta release for pilot testing with selected clients in Hong Kong and mainland China.

In short, Pingar changes the face of mainstream internet search. Pingar’s solution goes inside data documents, finds the content the user is seeking and then places it into a dynamically generated PDF or XPS document, rather than just presenting a list of links like the traditional search model. As the company likes to say: “it takes the browsing out of browsing.”

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Peter Wren-Hilton, Managing Director, Pingar, Mobile +64 21 791 120

Julien Leys, JML Communications, Ph +64 9 358 2828, Mobile +64 21 655 598
julien@jmlcommunications.co.nz

About Pingar

Established in 2006, Pingar has developed a semantic search platform that returns comprehensive search query results inside formatted PDF or XPS documents.

The company demonstrated its Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Search solution at the 2009 Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas, during October 2009. Based in Tauranga, New Zealand, Pingar currently has offices in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Pingar’s technology was developed in cooperation with the University of Waikato (WaikatoLink) and Auckland University of Technology and has received significant support from New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and the Foundation for Research Science & Technology.

For more information, please visit: www.pingar.com

Pingar is unveiling its beta SharePoint 2007 Search application in Silicon Valley this month. 

New algorithms have been created to add significant new ‘fine-tuning’ options to enterprise users of Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Search. As well as delivering search query results as dynamic PDF documents, Pingar’s new algorithms put contextual meaning into a user’s query input. 

Led by Dr Alyona Medelyan, the Pingar R&D team has bridged the gap between conventional search and some of the dramatic improvements being introduced with FAST Search for SharePoint 2010. Further improvements and a completely new summarization algorithm with be introduced into the Pingar SharePoint 2007 & 2010 application layer at the 2010 NZ SharePoint Conference in Wellington. 

These new applications demonstrates Pingar’s ability to operate across different Search Engine platforms, bringing enhanced end user experiences to the widest number of enterprise and internet consumers.

 Pingar today unveiled the latest Pingar application. Pingar is developing a new search algorithm with the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) that literally takes the browsing out of browsing.  The dynamic Search and Publishing Application holds real value for information-rich industries and is the result of a close collaboration on research and development between AUT Enterprises and Pingar.

This launch comes on the heels of major developments for Pingar in the UK, US and Hong Kong. Last week in the British House of Commons, Pingar announced a major research project between the University of Wales and the University of Waikato, with support from MPs, representatives of the Welsh Assembly and the New Zealand UK Trade Commissioner. Last month saw the successful debut of Pingar’s enterprise search solution for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 in Las Vegas. Microsoft’s SharePoint is used by millions and the Pingar tool will be available to corporations that use SharePoint 2010. Pingar also recently opened a Hong Kong office in conjunction with its partner Compose System.

“After three years of research and development, the reception to the Pingar platform in these past few weeks has exceeded all expectations and we are now engaging with significant global channel partners and major potential international customers,” says Peter Wren-Hilton, Managing Director of Pingar.

“Our immediate strategy is to build on the international relationships we have begun to develop to ensure that Pingar becomes a significant global player in the multi-billion dollar search and knowledge engineering space.”

In short, Pingar’s solution changes the face of mainstream search. Pingar’s application goes inside data documents, finds the content the user is seeking and then places it into a dynamically generated PDF document, rather than just presenting a list of links like the traditional search model.

Continued advances to Pingar’s applications are part of the ‘Kaimai Project’ at AUT, which sees a team of professors and PhD researchers developing new approaches to improve the knowledge-worker and Internet-users’ search experiences.

"Future versions will process the information intelligently and re-present it in ways that ensure users are not missing the full picture. Quality of information is the key, not quantity," says Professor Albert Yeap, Director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research at AUT and lead researcher on the Pingar project.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the government’s economic development agency, says that smart technology-based businesses such as Pingar are important for the growth of the New Zealand economy.

“Pingar have developed strong international research relationships and they are building strategic partnerships with the likes of Microsoft to make traction in key markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Their collaborative approach to product development and international growth is a good example for other New Zealand businesses,” says NZTE’s Director ICT, Creative, Services Hans Frauenlob.

 “A core message we have repeatedly expressed is Pingar's commitment to long-term innovation in Advanced Search and Knowledge Engineering. That has resonated with our global partners so that New Zealand is now seen increasingly as a centre of excellence in these key areas of technology research,” adds Wren-Hilton.

The company has been identified by Microsoft as having high-growth potential, being accepted into the Microsoft Start-up Accelerator Program in the United Kingdom last year.

Pingar will today announce at a private reception in the House of Commons that a major R&D project had been signed with the University of Wales and New Zealand's University of Waikato.

The Prince of Wales Innovation Scholarships (POWIS), managed by the University of Wales, is providing funding for a University of Waikato postgraduate to work as placement PhD student on a research project for Pingar in Wales for up to three years. The aim of the project is to place doctoral researchers within participating businesses to help develop their innovation capacity. This will be achieved by having each scholar undertake key research projects, supported by international and national academic supervisors, to support the innovation potential of the selected business.

Peter Wren-Hilton, Managing Director of Pingar said the collaborative research announcement today was an important part of the ongoing development of Pingar's search capability.

"Pingar recently launched its advanced search capability at the Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas. We received an overwhelming response, leading to a big uptake from major global resellers and other key users in government and industrial sectors. Pingar's ongoing commitment to further enhance the functionality of our search engine algorithm means that we will actively pursue collaborative R&D ventures like this one with the University of Wales," says Wren-Hilton.

In short, Pingar changes the face of mainstream search. Pingar's solution goes inside data documents, finds the content the user is seeking and then places it into a dynamically generated PDF document, rather than just presenting a list of links like the traditional search model.

"In Las Vegas, Pingar demonstrated how its product increased worker productivity in the enterprise search space. It generated real interest by delivering an improved quality of search result in seconds; resulting in significant cost savings for the enterprise," says Wren-Hilton.

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Welsh Assembly Government Minister for the Economy and Transport, has welcomed the high level investment in R&D that will be taking place in Wales.

"Pingar, which recently established its European Research and Development facility in Swansea, is a technology led company with high growth potential working in a key sector and the announcement concerning this international research collaboration is excellent news."

Professor Marc Clement, Senior Vice Chancellor of the University of Wales says that they are delighted to be jointly working with the University of Waikato in New Zealand to research advanced algorithms for the Pingar search engine.

"We are very pleased to collaborate with Pingar and the University of Waikato to develop additional research that takes the company's technology further as a world-class, leading application," says Professor Clement.

Lord Merlin, the 24th Earl of Erroll and Pingar's UK Advisory Board Chairman welcomed Pingar's UK launch at the House of Commons. Derek Wyatt, MP will host the launch and key members of both the UK Government and Opposition will attend. New Zealand's UK Trade Representative Michelle Templar and other New Zealand UK High Commission officials will also attend.

"We are delighted that so many senior members of the Welsh and Westminster Parliaments are attending. It is a ringing endorsement for how well-regarded Pingar is and the importance of the company to the overall UK economy and wealth creation in areas likes Wales," says Lord Merlin.

PINGAR DEBUTS ENTERPRISE SEARCH SOLUTION AT MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT CONFERENCE 2009

Half of all searches don’t find correct answer - New Zealand-based company to unveil solution

LAS VEGAS (October 19, 2009) – Pingar, the New Zealand-based company that has developed the next generation ‘intelligent’ search solution, has announced that it will unveil its enterprise search solution at the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas. This is the first time the Microsoft Start-Up Accelerator Partner will demonstrate its new search solution and marks the product’s, and the company’s, enterprise search global launch.

“The intelligent enterprise search tool that can be embedded into the upcoming release of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 will take the browsing out of browsing,” says Pingar’s co-founder and Managing Director Peter Wren-Hilton.

“Currently, according to IDC, 50 percent of searches don’t find the answer the person is looking for. Pingar can help change that,” says Wren-Hilton. “Pingar can help you find data faster and spend your time analyzing it as opposed to searching for it. This is of real value to large enterprises with vast amounts of information,” he says.

In short, Pingar changes the face of mainstream enterprise search. Pingar’s solution goes inside data documents, finds the content the user is seeking and then places it into a dynamically generated PDF or XPS document, rather than just presenting a list of links like the traditional search model. Pingar’s solution also sorts the search into categories to minimize reading times.

This conference will allow Pingar to ‘tell the world’ about its product set and explain the significance of Pingar’s inclusion in SharePoint Server 2010 for ‘intelligent’ search.

“We’re delighted to work with Microsoft to bring our unique solution to thousands of customers,” says Wren-Hilton.

“Pingar shares Microsoft’s vision to offer solutions with significant productivity and cost-savings for enterprises,” said Owen Allen, SharePoint senior product manager, Microsoft, Corp. “Smarter searching and content management is an integral part of the efficiencies offered by SharePoint Server 2010.”

The company has been identified by Microsoft as having high-growth potential, being accepted into the Microsoft Start-up Accelerator Program in the United Kingdom last year.

Pingar’s global debut at the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009 is the culmination of a year that has seen the company launching offices in Hong Kong and Swansea, Wales while appointing leading venture capitalist and former investment banker Chris de Boer as non-executive Chairman.

The conference will be attended by thousands of delegates and the keynote speaker at the event will be Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Pingar will be launching is Channel Partner Program at the Microsoft SharePoint 2009 Conference in Las Vegas.

The Program is targeting Microsoft SharePoint and Enterprise Search specialists. Pingar will be launching a Channel Partner portal to coincide with the launch of the global Program.

Pingar will be posting regularly from Las Vegas on this website during the Conference.

Pingar is launching its Microsoft SharePoint Application at the 2009 Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas from October 19 - 22 2009.

To check out the Pingar launch, visit Stand 916. We will be demonstrating Version 1.0 of our SharePoint ESP application and previewing snippets of our 'Kaimai Project'. This is scheduled for release with Microsoft SharePoint 2010. Thid DOES change the user experience of enterprise search.
Totally.

Las Vegas is the first time that Pingar is publicly demonstrating this revolutionary applcation. We look forward to meeting you next month.

Pingar LP is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris de Boer as non-Executive Chairman. 

Chris has extensive experience in investment banking, regulation, private equity, venture capital and consulting in London, Hong Kong and Australasia. He was an adviser to the Cable and Wireless Group in Asia/Pacific between 1987 and 2001, director of Optus Communications, Chairman of the Hong Kong Takeovers Panel and an Investment Committee Member of GEMS Oriental & General Fund. 

Chris was Chairman of the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund and Chairman of Phitek Systems. He is currently a director of Macquarie Media Group, a director of Mobilis Limited, Chairman of Sonar6 and Chairman of AngelLink.

Pingar announced today that it is creating offices in Hong Kong as its Asian hub.  

Sharon May McCrostie, New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner to Hong Kong endorses Pingar’s move into the Chinese market.  

“Pingar has a revolutionary, clever way of search that will transform so many industry sectors including publishing and monetizing online content.  It has been very exciting for us to see a New Zealand company taking on the world and making real inroads.  We’re sure we’ll see a lot more of Pingar and look forward to their showcasing as part of the New Zealand Pavilion at World Expo in Shanghai in July 2010,” says Sharon-May.

Pingar LP has moved to a new office suite at The Smart Business Centre, Bay Central, 65 Chapel Street, Tauranga 3110.

The Smart Business Centre is home to Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Export NZ (BOP) and The Foundation for Science Research & Technology. The move means that Pingar LP is now able to engage with its key NZ business development partners instantly.

Working with International Business Wales and other Welsh agencies, Pingar establishes a presence at the Technium in Swansea, Wales. The Swansea Technium is designed to incubate innovative companies and is working hard to attract companies based offshore. Working closely with the University of Swansea, it creates a platform for university and commercial company collaboration.

WaikatoLink complete the contract to research and develop key algorithms for the ongoing Pingar platform development.

The Earl of Erroll joins the Pingar UK Advisory Board.

Within Parliament, he plays an active role in several ICT groups, especially those looking at regulatory issues involving Communications, the Internet, Personal Identity and Government Data Sharing, linking this with a Local Authority perspective through his work on the board of LASSeO (The Local Authority Smartcard Standards e-Organisation). He sits on the council of PITCOM (Parliamentary Information Technology Committee), is on the board of EURIM (European Information Group), is Secretary of apComms (All-Party Communications Group), Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Group on Entrepreneurship, and Treasurer of the All-Party Group on Risk and Adventure in Society. In 2007 he sat on the Science & Technology Select Committee’s sub-committee on Personal Internet Safety.

He is President of E-RA (the E-business Regulatory Alliance) and also sits on other bodies such as the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and the Nominet (UK) Ltd. Policy Advisory Bodies.

Pingar is invited to present at ‘Essential MediaTech 100’ in London. This is further recognition of Pingar’s expanding reputation amongst media technology companies in the UK and Europe.

Pingar joins a select few to become a client of the global Microsoft Start-up Accelerator Program. Announcing the decision in London, Dan’l Lewin, Microsoft Vice-President of Emerging Business, spelt out the benefit of the Program to both Microsoft and the selected clients. Pingar’s engagement with this Program is a significant event for the company.

Pingar signs a significant research & development contract with Waikatolink, the commercial arm of the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Pingar also signs a contract with FRST (the Foundation for Research, Science & Technology), part of Technology NZ. This research is designed to generate complex algorithms which will form a key part of Pingar’s ongoing platform development.

Pingar is invited to present at the UK Technology, Innovation & Growth Forum held in London on 14 – 15 March 2008. As one of just three global companies invited to present, this Forum represents a key milestone in Pingar’s UK market entry strategy.

Pingar appoints JML Communications of Auckland, New Zealand to manage Pingar’s global PR & Communications strategy. JML Communications will assist develop the strategy with their global partner, Hill & Knowlton.

As part of Pingar’s global market entry strategy, market visits to the USA, UK, UAE and Singapore are undertaken during the March 2007 – May 2007 period. Pingar acknowledges the support of New Zealand Trade & Enterprise for the support provided through their global network of offices.

United Kingdom Trade & Invest recognise the Pingar platform as being a ‘Technology of Enormous Potential’. Pingar is invited to join the exclusive Global Entrepreneur Program – a program designed to attract leading global start-ups to the United Kingdom.

As part of Pingar’s ongoing commitment to the Microsoft Office platform, Pingar joins the Microsoft ‘Office Live’ Early Development Program.

Microsoft integrates Smart Analytics, the beta version of Pingar, into Microsoft Office Marketplaces. Microsoft Office Marketplaces provide millions of Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 users worldwide with access to leading third party solutions.

Pingar’s dynamic publishing technology is recognised by Microsoft. Pingar becomes a Microsoft UK ‘Partner of the Future’.