Leading Chinese-language search provider Baidu announced that its new version of MoboMarket will add Beta support for multiple Indian languages, including Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Urdu. MoboMarket added Hindi language support in November 2015, and the product team plans to include more Indian languages such as Telugu in the near future.
“Even though the tech industry in India is dominated by English, that language is just a tiny sliver when you consider India’s enormous linguistic diversity,” said Jeff Li, product director of MoboMarket. “Over 1,000 languages are spoken throughout India. Content in regional languages is in huge demand, and we’re going to keep working to bridge the language gap for more people,” he said. According to a 2001 census conducted by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu and Telugu make up a combined 33% of the speaking population of India. Hindi is spoken by over 41% of the population.
Baidu aims to build a robust ecosystem of mobile product and services in India. By localizing MoboMarket with support for a wide range of languages, more developers and users will be able to take part. “Getting the interface translated is just our first step,” said Li. “Our longer-term goal is to unite users and developers to make the online content in India more diverse and compelling,” he said.
Along with the built-in language updates, MoboMarket has also launched a campaign to crowd-source the translation of other languages directly through its users.
MoboMarket is Baidu’s international Android marketplace for audiences outside of China. With a library of over 650,000 Android apps, it is a one-stop shop for apps, games and more. To learn more, visit www.mobomarket.net
