Global Gateway Tip: Don’t Play Favorites
A pull-down menu is not the ideal solution for global gateways. For starters, it doesn’t scale well. If you offer ten or fewer country Web sites, a pull-down menu might …
MySpace China, Germany, and France This Summer?
According to TechCrunch, MySpace could launch a half-dozen non-English Web sites as early as this summer. Says the blog, “MySpace co-founder and chief executive Chris DeWolfe was quoted by the …
Soccer vs. Football, via ESPN
I always have wondered what Europeans would call US football if and when it became popular over there. Apparently, I’m not alone and ESPN has a solution to that pesky …
McDonalds in China; Elle in the Middle East
The Wall Street Journal features two articles on business globalization and localization — from McDonald’s building drive-thrus in China to Elle publishiing a Middle East edition. For Elle, the challenge …
Overcome the Text Messaging Language Barrier on Skype
Robert Levin, CEO of Transclick, alerted me to an app they have developed that plugs into Skype and translates text messages in real time. So you can message across languages. …
One Step Forward; Two Steps Back
Just when I thought the dark days of US xenophobia couldn’t get any darker, I read that Utah has taken down its Spanish-language Web site. According to the article, “”Two …
Google News Adds Arabic
Google News has added Arabic to its portfolio of 35 localized sites. This site takes a language-specific approach to the news rather than country-specific approach. It’s getting a little crowded …
Heading to Internet Retailer Conference
I’m off to Chicago shortly to attend/speak at the Internet Retailer Conference. This is a sizable event — I’m told there are more than 2,100 participants (I think it has …
English, Chinese, and Hindi?
According to Silicon India Google CE Eric Schmidt says India will become the world’s biggest Internet market in 5 to 10 years. Says the article, “Schmidt’s other futurist view is …
Skype Offers a Solution to that Pesky Language Barrier
Skype has for several years now helped people around the world communicate with one another, provided they speak the same language. Now, you don’t even need to speak the same …
Machine Translation Developments: Yahoo! and Google
Yahoo! has launched Yahoo! Babel Fish. You may have used it on the AltaVista site and this is basically the same thing, with some additional bells and whistles. Under the …
Lionbridge Launches Freeway 2.0 (What happened to 1.0?)
Lionbridge today formally launched its new hosted translation memory service: Freeway 2.0. The press release features glowing testimonials from Sybase, Nikon, and Ryanair. These companies, and roughly 70 others, have …
Google Earnings Further Validate Web Globalization
If you’re looking for further evidence that Web globalization drives revenue growth, look at the latest earnings numbers for a company that relies exclusively on the Internet for revenues. Google …
Tips for Creating Bilingual Software and Web Sites
I got an email last week from Chris Wood, one of the authors of “Bilingual Software Standards and Guidelines in Wales.” I realize that this may not sound like the …
The .eu Domain is Spawning .edu Hacks
I should have seen this one coming. According to Bret Fausett’s blog, the .eu domain is being registered by individuals hoping to capitalize on Web users who leave off the …