People always say there are about 1.6 billion population in China, it’s a can’t-miss-out opportunity, go and do business there! Bear in mind, 1.6 billion population doesn’t necessary mean a 1.6 billion people market. But, just saw from the news tonight on TV, there are about 1.3 billion computer users in China. One thing that every Chinese computer user must install is a Chinese character input software. Approximately speaking, that’s the market which has close to “1.6 billion potential users”. And guess who just stepped in?
There is already pinyin input software come with Chinese Windows, but not that many people are using it as far as I know. There are quite a number of people using “Wu Bi (五笔)” system, which is based on the strokes of a Chinese character. I don’t use it because it just takes too much time to learn. But once you master it, it’s probably the fastest way to input Chinese characters. So, the majority users still stick to the Pinyin system. Here are those I’d used before. ZnABC (智能ABC), ZiGuang (清华紫光), Sougou Pinyin (搜狗拼音). They are very good I have to say, but as new technology comes out from time to time, I just switch to new ones. And now, Google just launched its own Pinyin input software!
There was rumors about Google were about to launch a pinyin input software, because its technology is already quite advanced from its “Do you mean…?” correction in google search.
I just tried it, it’s pretty similar to Sougou’s. Maybe it’s because Sougou has got quite a number of users and many people have already got used to it. However, there are some better functions that Google pinyin provides. Such as instant search from input bar, direct English input, etc. But the one I like most is the synchronization of user vocab database with Google account. The software can remember your input habit and your frequently used words, and you can synchronize it to your Google account, download it when you reinstall next time. Cool stuff!
I’ve set it as my default Chinese input, still testing. One more thing from Google, what’s next?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
is it better than the previous one you downloaded for me?
It’s quite similar. The one you are using is Sougou. But you can still download to have a try.
i’ll wait for you to download it for me…I want the BEST system. I don’t want two. That’s a waste of space oooo….^^
I’ve downloaded it already and it’s easy to use :)
I like this software.
I was told this Wed, and downloaded it yesterday. It’s quite similar to Sogou, but the function that you can download your own database is really fantastic.
I am getting used to it, and immersed in Google products.haha