ICT System Allows Modification of Software : Firm Develops Chinese Translator
Industrial Computer Technologies Inc. of Brea said it has developed a new method of translating computer programs from English to Chinese that could enhance the ability of American firms to sell needed computer software to the rapidly emerging industrial nation.
Besides word processing and translation, the Panda 2000 computer terminal is designed to allow the growing number of U.S. computer manufac turers doing business with China to modify their existing software for the Chinese marketplace, said Berman.
“The Chinese have been importing technology, but they want to write their own applications,” said Ron Berman, vice president of marketing for ICT. “Up to now, only those who knew English could do programming.”
The terminal retails for $2,400, with additional fees to purchase software or modify a company’s existing software. Berman cited a “ballpark figure” of $30,000 to convert a software data base.
Distribution Rights
ICT has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for the system, which is manufactured by Asia Technology Inc. of Taiwan. The hardware was designed by a Taiwanese engineer, and the software was developed by Michael Quinlan, director of research and development for ICT.
The Panda is able to produce 8,000 of the most common Mandarin Chinese characters while using a standard-size keyboard because of its method of electronically drawing the complex Chinese characters from basic strokes, said Berman. Other systems typically require keyboards with 400 or 500 characters to create the Chinese alphabet, which has more than 50,000 characters, he said.
The terminal can also communicate with other computer systems, enabling a manufacturer to connect the Panda to its system and have translating capability, said Berman.
Other features of the terminal are its high-resolution screen to display the elaborate Chinese characters and its ability to generate additional characters, as drawn by the user, according to Berman. The system can also be adapted to other alphabets with complex characters, such as Arabic and Russian, said Berman.
