Showing posts with label European. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Go multilingual in 51 languages using Google gadgets

Google on Wednesday released free software that lets website operators automatically translate online pages into any of 51 languages.

A "translator gadget" powered by Google Translate offers to transform pages for visitors if the language settings in their browsers are different from the language of a particular website, according to Google product manager Jeff Chin.

"Automatic translation is convenient and helps people get a quick gist of the page," Chin said in a blog post.

"However, it's not a perfect substitute for the art of professional translation."

In August the Internet giant added automatic translation to Google Docs allowing users to translate documents into 42 languages.

The "Tools" menu on Google Docs now includes a "Translate Document" feature which provides a list of the various languages offered, which run from Albanian to Icelandic to Vietnamese.

The Mountain View, California-based company has already built automatic translation features into its popular email program Gmail and into services such as its blog reader.

Agencies

Monday, July 20, 2009

Solution for European mobile operators to save billions

Bobby Srinivasan founded Roamware, a provider of mobile roaming software and solutions, has unveiled its Voicemail Call Completion (VMCC) product that can help the European operators to save a potential annual bill of $2.1 billion for compliance with new European Union (EU) regulations on roaming voicemail.

The EU regulations, which will be introduced next year, are meant for ensuring that consumers are not being charged additional fees for receiving voice mail messages while roaming.

Though the new regulations will cut costs for consumers, other than any more changes made, Roamware estimates states that European operators will collectively incur an annual cost of between $1.8 billion and $2.1 billion for re-bounding international voicemail calls known in the telecoms industry as "tromboning".

"If you make a call to customer who is roaming but who cannot be reached because the signal is bad or they are already using the phone, two international calls are effectively made - one to try to reach the phone, and a rebound leg back to the home network voice mail box to leave the message. This is what is known as tromboning," explains John Jiang, CTO, Roamware.

Using the Voice Mail Call Completion (VMCC) service in the home network, the software recognizes the unavailable roaming mobile and deposits the call, complete with all the relevant information, straight to the home network mail box.

"We cut out the "trombone call" and ensure that roaming messages get left in exactly the same way as normal, helping operators meet their EU commitment and saving costs for both them and the consumers," said Jiang.

The company provides roaming software and services to more than 90 networks in the EU region. "We are seeing significant traction and interest from our existing customers and other operators both inside and outside the European region as operators realize the implication of the new EU regulations and the opportunities that exist to cut costs and improve service," said Abraham Punnoose, Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, Roamware.

SiliconIndia

Monday, December 15, 2008

After credit crisis world now rattled by Madoff scandal

European investors face billions of dollars losses in the wake of disclosure of "Ponzi" scheme run by Bernard Madoff, now being investigated by the American authorities.

European banks, including Spain's Grupo Santander SA and France's BNP Paribas, were quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that their clients and shareholders face billions of euros of losses on investments, underscoring the global reach of the alleged Ponzi scheme run by the veteran New York money manager.

A ponzi scheme is a type of securities fraud where the promoter makes some sort of false or misleading statement about an investment (often including a guaranteed high rate of return) and pays off older investors with newer investors money.

Santander, the eurozone's largest bank by market value, said its clients had an exposure of 2.33 billion euros ($3.1 billion) to Madoff's investment funds, mainly through its Optimal Strategic US Equity fund.

The company, which has been relatively unscathed from global financial crisis, said it had hired Madoff's firm to execute the Optimal fund's investments. Santander vowed to "undertake the legal actions which may be needed to defend the interests of investors."

The Journal reported that BNP, France's largest bank by market value, said it could lose as much as 350 million euros as a result of the alleged fraud.

However, the bank said it has no investment of its own in the hedge funds managed by Bernard Madoff Investment Services. BNP Paribas, however, said it is exposed to these funds through its trading business and lending to hedge funds that had invested in Madoff's funds.

The losses, the Journal said, could prove particularly embarrassing for banks' private-banking businesses, which charge high fees to wealthy investors in return for what is supposed to be superior advice and due diligence.

More than two billion euros belongs to institutional investors and international clients of Santander's private-banking business, which provides services to wealthy individuals, it was quoted as saying. The remaining 320 million euros belongs to private-banking customers in Spain, where the bank is based.

Most of the European banks' exposures were on client investments they managed, rather than on the banks' own balance sheets, it said, adding that it's not yet clear how much, if anything, investors in Madoff's funds may be able to recover.

Exposures to Madoff's funds have also emerged among a growing number of smaller European private banks.

In a letter posted on its website, the Swiss private bank Reichmuth and Co said its clients had an exposure of some 385 million Swiss francs to Madoff funds.

The bank said Reichmuth Matterhorn, a fund that invests in other hedge funds, faced a potential loss of about 8.6 per cent on its exposure to Madoff. That amount represented about 3.5 per cent of the 11 billion Swiss francs Reichmuth & Co. has under management, the bank said, the Journal reported.

Source: Agencies

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