Handwriting recognition interface appears in iPhone Software 2.0

[MetalheadGautham]

I think they decided to put in Chinese handwriting recognition because it might be difficult to have a suitable virtual keyboard implementation for it. I'm just guessing though.

a testing release which uses the most complicated language in the world ? nobody in their right mind would do that.

I think its either because of chinese engineers, or because chinese is always identifiable, just simple strokes with a brush or a pen, unlike english, which is full of curves, which can change in style and intensity along with eccentricity from person to person.

 

[aryayush]

Umm… in case you didn't know, Chinese happens to be the most common language user interfaces are localised in after English, so it's not very surprising that Apple chose it too.

And what do you mean by Chinese engineers? Apple might have Chinese people in their employ and working in Cupertino, but none of the hardware or software design of any of Apple's products takes place outside Cupertino in California, leave alone far flung, non-English speaking countries like China.

Apple products are “designed in California, assembled in China”.

 

[iMav]

are they made in the US too, i was in a show room the other day and there was this uncle who said tht he wants a made in US product I & the sales guy told him tht all apple products are designed in US but made in China, but not really sure, can u confirm the same please?

 

[MetalheadGautham]

Umm… in case you didn't know, Chinese happens to be the most common language user interfaces are localised in after English, so it's not very surprising that Apple chose it too.

And what do you mean by Chinese engineers? Apple might have Chinese people in their employ and working in Cupertino, but none of the hardware or software design of any of Apple's products takes place outside Cupertino in California, leave alone far flung, non-English speaking countries like China.

Apple products are “designed in California, assembled in China”.

well, chinese IS the most popular script after roman, so its no surprise. But fact still remains that (as far as I can remember) chinese has mostly strokes, and is written almost exclusively with lines, hence must be easier to identify than english.


PS: about your last line, doesn't that make iPods "made in china" ?

 

[iMav]

^^ yes they are, it's imprinted ont he back of all iPods I have seen -

Designed by Apple in California, Made in China

 

[aryayush]

It's “Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China”.

There's a difference between being made and being assembled. Products that are made in China are designed in China, assembled in the factories, quality tested and shipped from there.

Apple products, on the other hand, are designed by Apple's own engineers in Cupertino, California, under Steve Jobs's supervision and with the hardware and software teams working in tandem. They are then assembled in China because it's a lot cheaper than owning your own infrastructure and assembling it yourself. Then they're sent back to the U.S.A. for quality checking and shipped from there.

That's the reason why Chinese don't get Apple products any cheaper or sooner than the rest of the world does, unlike the USA, where Apple products go on sale before they do anywhere else in the world and are usually the cheapest.

So yeah, they are assembled in China (I wish they weren't but that's the way it is), but that does not mean that the quality is anywhere near the kind you expect from something that's made in China. Hope it's clear now.

 

[iMav]

mine has the word Made imprinted & abt my query here