Language Weaver Launches Consumer-Focused Subsidiary, Kontrib, First to Offer Multilingual Social Bookmarking Site

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Language Weaver, a leading software company developing enterprise software for the automated translation of human languages, today officially announced it has established Kontrib, a separate business unit focused on developing consumer-oriented multilingual Web capabilities. Kontrib’s first service adds a new twist to the social bookmarking marketplace by being the first news bookmarking site to integrate automated machine translation of stories. Kontrib also allows users to submit, vote, and comment on user-generated stories in multiple languages.

Kontrib uses Language Weaver’s automated language translation software, a proprietary software engine developed using statistical methodology, or mathematical probability algorithms, to automatically translate English, Spanish, French and Arabic-language news items and postings into any or all of these languages. If a user submits a story in English, Spanish, French or Arabic it is available in the other languages in a matter of minutes.

According to the company, the patent-pending Website’s ultimate goal is to foster communication on the Internet by breaking down the language barrier, allowing people from many cultures and languages to see each other’s postings in their own local language. Casual users of Kontrib can go to the site, select a language of their choice and read the site’s content. Those who would like to submit stories, vote on them or add comments may register for free. With registration, users gain additional capabilities, including setting up language preferences that will change the language of the user interface.

Bryce Benjamin, CEO of Language Weaver, said, “Although there are several other social bookmarking sites, none of them are multilingual. Our goal in developing Kontrib is to make use of current language technologies to help bridge the gaps that exist across societies due to language barriers. We’ve thought for a long time that our translation software should be useful in promoting communication and understanding within our global community. Kontrib represents our first step to help make that goal a reality.”

Kontrib.com takes social bookmarking to a new level by making user-generated content available to a larger audience of readers on the Internet. Media companies and publishers will be able to reach a wider audience simply because their content is available in multiple languages. More localization will translate into more eyes viewing the content with corollary potential advertising implications. Users benefit by getting to see what’s important to others through the stories and opinions posted by their counterparts in other parts of the world.

The software from Language Weaver returns natural-sounding translations that allow readers to get the gist of the topic with many accurate sentences and has the potential to improve with greater content feedback because it is based on statistical probabilities. Language Weaver pioneered the integration of statistical methodology into the first production translation systems and is the only supplier in the market with commercially available SMT software.

For more information, see www.kontrib.com and www.languageweaver.com.