Hyderabad, November 26: Microsoft had launched a set of tools that help Users enter Indian Languages text into computers and the beta version of the tools would be made available as a free down-load soon.
Talking to newspersons here yesterday, Vice-President and Managing Director Srini Koppolu said the tools would initially support Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu and later it would take up the project on other Indian languages.
Mr Koppolu said the tools had been engineered by Microsoft and the technology would be leveraged to support other syllabic languages of foreign countries. These input tools used free-form transliteration and users spell Indian language words in a natural(phonetic) way using English alphabet, which the tools transliterate into the right words in the chosen language, he added.
He said ”There is a huge demand to consume and interact with Indian language content today. Tools that make it easy to search, communicate and create content in Indian languages are key for broader computing adoption and the tools we are showcasing today are aimed at addressing this need.” The desk-top version is unique among the free-form transliteration offerings in the market today, in that it enables the user to enter Indian language text directly into any application.
The web version allows the user to enter text on any web-page without requiring software down-load. The visual keyboard enables users, who are not familiar with English alphabet to visually select and directly enter Indian language characters, he added.
—–Agencies