[A12n-forum] "Lingsoft licenses Kiswahili spell checker to Microsoft"

["Don Osborn" <dzo@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FYI...


Lingsoft licenses state-of-the-art Kiswahili spell checker to Microsoft
Corp.
http://www.lingsoft.fi/?doc_id=271&lang=en

Turku, June 5th, 2007 - Lingsoft, Inc. has licensed its Kiswahili Spell
Checker to Microsoft Corp. The companies have entered into an agreement in
which Microsoft has an option to utilize the Kiswahili Speller in Microsoft
Office. The new Kiswahili Spell Checker will be part of Microsoft's Local
Language Program.

"Microsoft wants to incorporate high-quality proofing tools into Microsoft
Office for a number of languages that have so far lacked these essential
tools," said Jason Redford, Senior Program Manager of Microsoft Proofing
Tools, Dublin. "We have been working with Lingsoft since the 1990's, and
they have a long and distinguished track record in Proofing Tools for the
Nordic Languages for Microsoft Office."

The Kiswahili Spell Checker is a high coverage - high precision spell
checking tool. It is based on Lingsoft's gold standard technology, and it
was developed in cooperation with leading experts in East African languages.

"Being chosen by Microsoft to deliver this essential word processing
functionality for Kiswahili is very exciting. This is the first time we have
applied Lingsoft technology to an African language. The results are very
good, and the development cycle to the commercial application was fast,"
said Simo Vihjanen, Chief Development Officer of Lingsoft.

Kiswahili is spoken in a large area that spreads from Tanzania, Kenya,
Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo (DRC), Northern Congo (DRC), Northern
Malawi, Northern Mozambique, Northern Zambia, and Comoros to as far as
Somalia. It is currently estimated that well over 100 million people use
Kiswahili for communication. It is the official language for Tanzania, Kenya
and Uganda.

What is the MicrosoftR Local Language Program? It is a worldwide initiative
dedicated to providing individuals access to desktop computer software in
their native language. More information is available here.

Lingsoft, Inc.
Lingsoft is an international full-service language company. Lingsoft
provides a comprehensive range of products and services related to spoken
and written language. Lingsoft solutions are based on the company's sentence
and word analysis technologies that have become the industry standard.

Lingsoft language solutions help your organization to succeed: everything
from translations and glossaries all the way to proofing tools, text mining,
training applications and speech-controlled services.

More information: Simo Vihjanen, Chief Development Officer, +358 2 279 3318,
+358 44 290 1673