Over 100 language computing experts, academicians and developers are expected to participate in the event. Invitations to participate have also been extended to all State IT Secretaries. Reinhard Schäler, Director of the LRC will give the keynote speech. 

 

STAR Transit XV available to LttN members free-of-charge

 

Star, the translation logistics company, has generously agreed to make their translation memory tool, Star Transit XV, available free-of-charge to members of the Localisation Teaching, Training and Research Network (LttN). The use of STAR training products is authorised within the framework of training and further education and administrative purposes linked to schools, adult education centres and state–approved educational institutions as well as to universities and research institutions with non-profit-making intentions. 

 

GlobalSight attains TMX certification from LISA

GlobalSight Corporation, a provider of infrastructure software for content globalisation, has attained certification from the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) of conformance to the TMX specification. Ambassador, GlobalSight's flagship Globalization Management System, passed the series of certification tests prescribed by LISA and is now officially certified as compliant with Level 2 of the TMX specification, Rev 1.4b.

TMX (Translation Memory eXchange) is an XML-based standard for the interchange of translation memory (TM) data between applications. Maintained by OSCAR, the TMX standard provides an application-neutral alternative to proprietary TM formats.

Basis Technology to improve MSN search engine

Microsoft Corp. has chosen Basis Technology's Rosette Linguistics Platform to support web searches in its new MSN search engine. Microsoft and Basis, a provider of software solutions for multilingual text mining and information retrieval applications, have entered into a multiyear agreement in which Microsoft has the option to utilise all of Basis Technology's linguistics software, including components for language identification, morphological analysis and entity extraction. On November 11, 2004, MSN released a global beta of the improved MSN Search service worldwide.

SDL licenses 1,500 universities

SDL Desktop Products, a division of SDL International, a provider of language translation software, has surpassed the 1,500 license mark of its flagship product SDLX into universities around the world. The SDL University Alliance Program is designed to provide academic institutions and students with access to the latest translation and localisation technology. Over the last year, the number of universities joining the program has more than doubled, and that number is expected to double again before the end of 2005. SDL sees the university alliances as an investment in the translation industry at a grass roots level — the translators, engineers and project managers of tomorrow.

Release of Multilizer 6.1

Multilizer, Inc., a developer of globalisation technologies, has announced a new version of its localisation solution, Multilizer 6.1. The upgrade includes various new features and innovations as well as the upgrading of many existing Multilizer 6.0 features. Many generic features simplify localisation and improve productivity on any platform and project. The new version also has major improvements in platform specific features, new general features and new translation memory features.

New Reports by Common Sense Advisory

Common Sense Advisory, an independent research and consulting firm, has released "Lionbridge 2005: Challenges and Opportunities," the first in a series of reports on publicly traded language service companies. The 35-page r eport provides a business assessment of Lionbridge Technologies, Inc., a provider of globalisation and testing services, in the financial and business terms that reflect the company's importance to the globalisation plans of large enterprises.

Common Sense Advisory has also released its latest research report "Online Retail Not Latino-Friendly." The 30-page report explores corporate online communications, customer service practices and business-to-consumer marketing in a global economy. The study reviewed Internet Retailer's top 50 online retailers, revealing that only four offer content in Spanish. The findings and analysis are based on a study of the sites for Spanish and other multicultural content, and e-mail and webform attempts to contact the retailers in English and Spanish.

PASSOLO integrates with RapidTranslation and TRADOS

PASSOLO, a provider of visual localisation tools and technologies, has recently set up alliances with two other providers of translation and localisation technologies, RapidSolution and TRADOS. Integrating PASSOLO with partner products helps extend functionality to provide special-purpose solutions and services.

PASSOLO can be integrated with RapidTranslation to offer runtime language switching into software without programming knowledge and without modification of the source code. It also enables runtime validation of localisation. Integration with TRADOS tools provides direct access to TRADOS translation memories and MultiTerm terminology databases during the software localisation process.

New Guide published by Lingo Systems and MLC 

Lingo Systems, a provider of translation and localisation services, and MultiLingual Computing, Inc., have published the fifth edition of The Guide to Translation and Localization: Preparing for the Global Marketplace. For readers who are new to localisation, this 128-page guide defines key terms, explains the various options for translating materials, identifies issues to consider when selecting a vendor, describes the localiation process itself and provides tips to control costs and improve quality. Localisation veterans will find useful information on emerging trends, as well as technical discussions about software localisation and the latest publishing techniques.

The previous four editions of the guide were all award winners. New for the fifth edition, Lingo Systems has expanded the scope to include guest chapters from other industry leaders with proven solutions for helping companies expand globally. Among the topics they address are single-source content management, testing and integration of hardware and software, developing a global brand, cultural training and awareness and the future of the localisation industry.