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Compose Email On Gmail In 5 Indian Languages

Gmail the email service from Google will turn 5 years old tomorrow. The email which started as an invite only has captured a large userbase in the 5 years that its been around. Even in India it was said to be catching on to Yahoo mail very quickly.

Google over the last couple of years has introduced many language centric features. Even for Gmail Google had introduced Gmail in Hindi at first but then Google made it available in all major languages of India including اردو (Urdu) , मराठी (Marathi), हिन्दी (Hindi), বাংলা (Bangla), ગુજરાતી (Gujarati), (Oriya), தமிழ் (Tamil), తెలుగు (Telugu), ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada) and മലയാളം (Malayalam).

But this was just limited to the viewing of the emails in a particular language. One could still not compose an email in a regional language. This has been introduced by Gmail now with compose mail option in Hindi, தமிழ் (Tamil), తెలుగు (Telugu), ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada) and മലയാളം (Malayalam).

This new feature was built using Google’s transliteration technology, which is also available on Google India Labs, Orkut, Blogger and iGoogle.

All in all this does seem a step ahead to make Gmail as the last mile email provider which can be used by rural folks as well. Especially the language preference in south India is quite strong and that explains why 4 out of the 5 languages introduced are from south India.

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Microsoft unplugging Encarta! Wikipedia to blame?

On my 12th birthday I received my first Microsoft Encarta CD. The year was 2000 and it was my most prized possession. Things surely have changed for there was no Wikipedia back then, for if there was I don't know if I'd have owned a copy for the encyclopedia.

Nearly a decade later Microsoft decides to kill off Encarta. One would assume that it's an April Fools prank, but then MS isn't really known to have had a killer sense of humour.

On Encarta's FAQ page Microsoft announced that will be shutting down all Microsoft Encarta websites by 29th October this year (with the exception of Encarta Japan which will shut down on 31st December 2009) and will stop the distribution of all Student and Premium products by June 2009.

So why is it doing this?

Well, according to Microsoft "People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past.". Is that a politically correct way of saying that Wikipedia pwned Encarta by providing people with free information?

Maybe. No one can deny that the free encyclopedia as well as the information overload on the internet was simply too much for the Encarta folks to handle. Their sales were dipping drastically and it was only a matter of tie before they unplugged.

And what does Microsoft have to offer in the future?

I suppose they're in no mood to tell us just yet and the FAQ section just gives us something vague such as this:

Microsoft’s vision is that everyone around the world needs to have access to quality education, and we believe that we can use what we've learned and assets we've accrued with offerings like Encarta to develop future technology solutions. In doing so, we feel strongly that we are making the right investments that will help make our vision a reality.

Clearly this is just a first in a series of how the internet has changed the ball game for companies like Microsoft which charge people for their products.

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Skype Now On Iphone

Last week Gigaom reported a probable a release of iphone version of the very famous VOIP client skype, now the news is confirmed. This move of skype is for sure in line with the broader cellphone strategy of the VOIP company.

Iphone users with 3G connections around the world were yearning for the software, but the bummer is that Iphone version of skype will only work on a Wifi network if you are nearby one and will not work on the 3G network but the IM chat will.

Presence Management

Earlier with Nokia N97 and reportedly now with Iphone, it is quite evident that Skype is increasingly conncetrating on the presence management of it’s client on the mobile phones.It is definitely a smart move from Skype as it would for sure contribute to the increased adoption of the client.

So what does this mean for India?

It’s definitely not a big news for skype users in India not that there are a huge number of people with Iphone in the country, but the recent tie-up with Nokia is for sure going to help proliferate the adoption of the client in the country, with the advent of 3G.

The poor VOIP infrastructure and the TRAI regulations has kept India away from the widepsread adoption of the technology for really long time. A typical skypeout call to India costs $ 0.106 (including VAT) while to US and UK it costs $ 0.024. The day this improves one will see a sea change in the usage and adoption of skype.

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