Ever thought of a technology that enables you to message in your native language — Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujrati or any other? Now you can do just that with a newly developed software Panini Keypads (developed by a Noida-based company). It promises to make messaging easier for those who don’t understand English or prefer to talk in regional languages.
Abhijit Bhatacharjee, CEO Luna Egronomics, which has developed the Panini Keypads, says that he wanted to develop a utility app. “Finally, I had something in place. It took us almost three years to develop it. But now we have created a buzz about it,” says Abhijit, who is happy that international technological giants are recognising their product and are awarding it too.
Presently, the app can be downloaded on any JAVA, I-phone or Android based phones. But the product is actually meant for the masses who don’t understand anything more than their native languages. And so, the company is in talks with the mobile giants to incorporate the app even in the most basic phones that come for less than a grand. “From the 600 million mobile phone users in India, only 90 million can understand English. While these 90 million can operate the mobile phone, send and receive messages, the others can only make and take calls. It has been a challenge not only for us but also for many others world over to develop a technology in mobile phones where native languages can be easily incorporated,” says Abhijit.
And it’s not only Abhijit who is sure that the invention can bring about a revolution in mobile technology but many others too. “My grandmother, after seeing my cousins and me chatting through messages, has many times asked us to teach her messaging but she can’t understand English. The only language she understands is Tamil,” says college student Varsha Krishnan, who thinks that the app could be helpful for many like her grandmother for whom language becomes a barrier.
However, entrepreneur Ajay Soni thinks that marketing the app should be done properly. “We need this. But it would not be of any help if people fail to understand it. It requires similar hard work to popularise and teach the public how to use the app. It would require promotion in a way that makes sense to those who consider apps and technology as alien,” he says.