Web globalization in a post-PC world
The 2012 Web Globalization Report Card is my first attempt at analyzing web globalization in a post-PC world. By post-PC world, I’m referring to a world in which the website adapts not …
Apple
The best global websites of 2012
UPDATE: The 2017 Web Globalization Report Card is now available. I’m happy to announce the publication of the 2012 Web Globalization Report Card. This year, we reviewed 105 websites across …
One person’s workday is another person’s holiday
I was fresh out of college and living in Australia when I first experienced Boxing Day. I was clueless. I thought the Aussies were unusually eager fans of, well, boxing. …
Language negotiation in a mobile world: Improving the global user experience
Language negotiation is the process of detecting the language setting of a web browser and responding with the matching language, if available. Companies such as Google and Facebook have used …
Global by Design turns 1,000
In 2002, I launched this blog. It was the first blog devoted to web globalization. In fact, I don’t believe there were any blogs devoted to translation either at that …
Google Translate App for iPhone: Will it hit number 1? (Answer: Yes!)
I’m a little amazed by all the press that the Google Translate app for iPhone is getting today. From The Wall Street Journal to the LA Times, this app is …
Think your translator is cutting corners? Try the machine translation detector…
Lior Libman of One Hour Translation has released a web tool that you can use to quickly determine if text was translated by one of the three major machine translation …
Previewing the 2011 Web Globalization Report Card
I’ve begun work on the 7th edition of the Report Card. To produce this report I individually review more than 200 global web sites across more than 20 industries. Needless …
Is Apple giving up on flags?
Apple has been using flags as part of its global gateway for many years. In 2006, Apple’s global gateway was positioned in the footer and featured a different flag for …
Setting up FaceTime for Mac-to-Mac chats
I interrupt this blog for a brief tutorial on how to use FaceTime for a Mac-to-Mac video chat. Apple has made lots of noise about how iPhone 4 users can …
Apple iPhone 4 improves international support
The iPhone is a global success story. And one of the reasons for this success can be attributed to the device’s support for more than 30 languages. But with the …
Have you localized your error messages?
While trying (and failing) to buy an iPhone this morning, I’ve encountered three different error screens. Here’s my favorite: I seriously doubt that “Oops!” has been localized for different markets. …
iPhone app globalization: Ready for take-off
The WSJ has an article about iPhone developers taking their apps global. It’s very early days, but it’s safe to say that localization vendors are drooling over the possibilities. Although …
Country code wallpaper for your iPhone
I realize I’m a bit obsessed with country codes. It’s a sickness, I know. After I created the Country Codes of the World map, I began looking at other platforms …
Mac Snow Leopard International Bug
I recently got around to upgrading to Snow Leopard. Along the way, I discovered a rather interesting bug. It’s not a huge deal, but a bug nonetheless. And one likely …