Mobile phones have helped connect people even in some of the most remote corners of the country, and apps that help you type in regional languages have found several takers.
Now, in a recent announcement, the government has mandated that handsets manufactured next July onwards should support input in one regional language in addition to English and Hindi and readability in 22 Indian languages. This is to work towards increasing the reach of Digital India in the rural areas.
While this could increase the cost of manufacturing handsets, many Bengalureans feel this is a welcome move and believe it will help make technology more accessible.
Journalism student Aishwarya S says she has an app, Total Kannada, and uses it to update her status on social networking sites. "I mostly chat in English," she admits. "But many others I know type out what they want to say in Kannada in the English.
This will help others like them who think in Kannada — or whatever else is their mother tongue — but don't really go to the trouble of downloading apps that support typing in these languages." This will also help people share lines of poetry and excerpts from other literary works, thus promoting regional-language literature, she opines.
Theatre artiste Niranjan, whose work often takes him to the villages, says many
who live in the rural areas not only don't always have access to high-speed internet, they might not know how to download apps as urban citizens do.
"Many often write letters to newspapers; with such in-built software, they could start using email," he elaborates.
Handsets that support regional languages could even aid in getting information from the government — such as subsidies — to those who would actually benefit from it, believes Chetan Chauhan, a city-based entrepreneur.
"Our startup runs a parking service app and we get a lot of calls from people who only speak in Kannada and have trouble understanding how the app works," he says. "I'm sure this is true in other cities and towns as well."
With Share Chat, an app that curates funny videos and tit-bits of general knowledge, and other curation apps that put together news stories in various Indian languages having several users, it only indicates that integrating regional languages in mobile technology is the way to go, he adds.
"It will help bridge the digital gap between urban and rural India," he elaborates. "After all, why should only those who speak, read and write English benefit from tech?" Devashish Mamgain, co-founder of a startup that provides chatting services for apps, agrees.
"When it comes to tech, in India, language is still often an obstacle," he says. "If people can type or chat in regional languages, apps could be used to translate it into English.This way, whoever they reach out to can respond too."
![]( "helpful There are many takers for apps that help one communicate in regional language.")
Mobile phones have helped connect people even in some of the most remote corners of the country, and apps that help you type in regional languages have found several takers.
Now, in a recent announcement, the government has mandated that handsets manufactured next July onwards should support input in one regional language in addition to English and Hindi and readability in 22 Indian languages. This is to work towards increasing the reach of Digital India in the rural areas.
While this could increase the cost of manufacturing handsets, many Bengalureans feel this is a welcome move and believe it will help make technology more accessible.
Journalism student Aishwarya S says she has an app, Total Kannada, and uses it to update her status on social networking sites. "I mostly chat in English,” she admits. "But many others I know type out what they want to say in Kannada in the English.
This will help others like them who think in Kannada — or whatever else is their mother tongue — but don’t really go to the trouble of downloading apps that support typing in these languages.” This will also help people share lines of poetry and excerpts from other literary works, thus promoting regional-language literature, she opines.
Theatre artiste Niranjan, whose work often takes him to the villages, says many
who live in the rural areas not only don’t always have access to high-speed internet, they might not know how to download apps as urban citizens do.
"Many often write letters to newspapers; with such in-built software, they could start using email,” he elaborates.
Handsets that support regional languages could even aid in getting information from the government — such as subsidies — to those who would actually benefit from it, believes Chetan Chauhan, a city-based entrepreneur.
"Our startup runs a parking service app and we get a lot of calls from people who only speak in Kannada and have trouble understanding how the app works,” he says. "I’m sure this is true in other cities and towns as well.”
With Share Chat, an app that curates funny videos and tit-bits of general knowledge, and other curation apps that put together news stories in various Indian languages having several users, it only indicates that integrating regional languages in mobile technology is the way to go, he adds.
"It will help bridge the digital gap between urban and rural India,” he elaborates. "After all, why should only those who speak, read and write English benefit from tech?” Devashish Mamgain, co-founder of a startup that provides chatting services for apps, agrees.
"When it comes to tech, in India, language is still often an obstacle,” he says. "If people can type or chat in regional languages, apps could be used to translate it into English.This way, whoever they reach out to can respond too.”
Now, in a recent announcement, the government has mandated that handsets manufactured next July onwards should support input in one regional language in addition to English and Hindi and readability in 22 Indian languages. This is to work towards increasing the reach of Digital India in the rural areas.
While this could increase the cost of manufacturing handsets, many Bengalureans feel this is a welcome move and believe it will help make technology more accessible.
Journalism student Aishwarya S says she has an app, Total Kannada, and uses it to update her status on social networking sites. "I mostly chat in English," she admits. "But many others I know type out what they want to say in Kannada in the English.
This will help others like them who think in Kannada — or whatever else is their mother tongue — but don't really go to the trouble of downloading apps that support typing in these languages." This will also help people share lines of poetry and excerpts from other literary works, thus promoting regional-language literature, she opines.
Theatre artiste Niranjan, whose work often takes him to the villages, says many
who live in the rural areas not only don't always have access to high-speed internet, they might not know how to download apps as urban citizens do.
"Many often write letters to newspapers; with such in-built software, they could start using email," he elaborates.
Handsets that support regional languages could even aid in getting information from the government — such as subsidies — to those who would actually benefit from it, believes Chetan Chauhan, a city-based entrepreneur.
"Our startup runs a parking service app and we get a lot of calls from people who only speak in Kannada and have trouble understanding how the app works," he says. "I'm sure this is true in other cities and towns as well."
With Share Chat, an app that curates funny videos and tit-bits of general knowledge, and other curation apps that put together news stories in various Indian languages having several users, it only indicates that integrating regional languages in mobile technology is the way to go, he adds.
"It will help bridge the digital gap between urban and rural India," he elaborates. "After all, why should only those who speak, read and write English benefit from tech?" Devashish Mamgain, co-founder of a startup that provides chatting services for apps, agrees.
"When it comes to tech, in India, language is still often an obstacle," he says. "If people can type or chat in regional languages, apps could be used to translate it into English.This way, whoever they reach out to can respond too."
Mobile phones have helped connect people even in some of the most remote corners of the country, and apps that help you type in regional languages have found several takers. Now, in a recent announcement, the government has mandated that handsets manufactured next July onwards should support input in one regional language in addition to English and Hindi and readability in 22 Indian languages. This is to work towards increasing the reach of Digital India in the rural areas.
While this could increase the cost of manufacturing handsets, many Bengalureans feel this is a welcome move and believe it will help make technology more accessible.
Journalism student Aishwarya S says she has an app, Total Kannada, and uses it to update her status on social networking sites. "I mostly chat in English,” she admits. "But many others I know type out what they want to say in Kannada in the English.
This will help others like them who think in Kannada — or whatever else is their mother tongue — but don’t really go to the trouble of downloading apps that support typing in these languages.” This will also help people share lines of poetry and excerpts from other literary works, thus promoting regional-language literature, she opines.
Theatre artiste Niranjan, whose work often takes him to the villages, says many
who live in the rural areas not only don’t always have access to high-speed internet, they might not know how to download apps as urban citizens do.
"Many often write letters to newspapers; with such in-built software, they could start using email,” he elaborates.
Handsets that support regional languages could even aid in getting information from the government — such as subsidies — to those who would actually benefit from it, believes Chetan Chauhan, a city-based entrepreneur.
"Our startup runs a parking service app and we get a lot of calls from people who only speak in Kannada and have trouble understanding how the app works,” he says. "I’m sure this is true in other cities and towns as well.”
With Share Chat, an app that curates funny videos and tit-bits of general knowledge, and other curation apps that put together news stories in various Indian languages having several users, it only indicates that integrating regional languages in mobile technology is the way to go, he adds.
"It will help bridge the digital gap between urban and rural India,” he elaborates. "After all, why should only those who speak, read and write English benefit from tech?” Devashish Mamgain, co-founder of a startup that provides chatting services for apps, agrees.
"When it comes to tech, in India, language is still often an obstacle,” he says. "If people can type or chat in regional languages, apps could be used to translate it into English.This way, whoever they reach out to can respond too.”