Taking Video Games Global
I recently interviewed Heather Chandler, author of The Game Localization Handbook. Game localization is much more than a niche industry these days. Today, video games may be console-based, Internet-based, and …
Translation
Voters Lost in Translation
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Spanish translation of an informational “voter guide” is so poor that the election board had to trash what remaining flyers it had in …
Briggs & Stratton Accelerates Translation
Just as “time to market” has accelerated across all industries, so too has “translation to market.” After all, you can’t promote a new product globally if the marketing collateral and …
Bowne Offers Interpretation to NHS
The NHS is the UK’s national health organization and the largest health organization in Europe. It announced recently that it would be offering multilingual phone support through Bowne Global Solutions. …
Getting Out the Multilingual Vote
The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that San Diego County is still hundreds shy of reaching its required number of bilingual poll workers who speak Spanish, Tagalog or Vietnamese. According …
Cox Begins “Transcreating” Spanish
Cox Communications announced yesterday that it is rolling out Spanish-langauge bills in selected markets. Here is the press release. I found an interesting new term in the release: transcreating. This …
iTunes Going Global
The iTunes Music Store is slowly but surely extending its global grasp. iTunes is the software companion to the iPod, allowing users to buy songs and books a la carte …
World Wide XML
Here’s a meaty article from CNET News on the latest XML developments. According to the co-creator of XML, Tim Bray, XML owes at least some of its success to its …
Global Gateway Notes
As you know, I’m an active proponent of the “global gateway.” The global gateway refers to the many visual and technical elements that collectively direct Web users to their country- …
Microsoft’s Global Blunders
CNET News features an entertaining article on some of the creative ways that Microsoft has offended people around the world through cultural and linguistic blunders. These anecdotes come from a …
Lowe’s Conducts Bilingual Marketing Research
Since relocating to San Diego, I’ve been a regular at Lowe’s. During my last visit I was asked to particpate in an online study. I went home, plugged in the …
Oracle Selects Idiom (Again?)
The title of this latest Idiom press release makes it sound as if Idiom just won the Oracle account. However, if you read past the first paragraph you’ll find that …
Web Globalization Back on the “Front Burner”
Two months ago I began interviewing executives at a number of large multinationals about their global Web sites. As you know, I’ve been following this industry for many years now, …
China: 80 Million Internet Users And Just Getting Started
According to a new report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) — the country’s Internet regulatory body — China now has 31 million broadband Internet subscribers, an increase …
EU Translation Crisis Update
According to this BBC article, the European Union translation backlog is becoming a serious problem. EU beaurocrats have been told to keep documents to fewer than 15 pages to help …