Recent press release - Infoseek going global...
I'll chip in this press release - I'm sure anyone interested has already read it. Are there any other more active discussion groups on Infoseek, or is this it?
Miguel Rabay, Globalization Specialist, to Head New Unit
NEW YORK, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Bowne & Co., Inc. (AMEX:BNE) said today it has formed a dedicated Internet localization team based in Bellevue, Wash., within its Bowne Global Solutions group. The new Web business unit has been awarded a contract by Infoseek Corporation (NASDAQ:SEEK) to translate that well-known Internet search engine's interface into Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, German, International Spanish and Swedish and also to provide additional Website translation and localization for Infoseek's current French
and Italian Internet Websites, the company said. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Localization is the adaptation and translation of information technology products, e.g., software applications and Internet Web-sites, for use in markets beyond that of the producing country -- in this case, outside the United States. Infoseek had previously localized Web pages of its award- winning search engine for the UK market and for Japan. Each of the newly translated pages will carry a hyperlink on the credit line to Bowne's own multilingual Web-site, www.bowne.com, which offers investors and others corporate and financial data in four languages plus English.
Infoseek's director of business development, Leo Jolicoeur, said, "For us, there is a high comfort level in partnering with Bowne, the premier financial printer and EDGAR filer for corporate America. Bowne's participation in the software and Web-site localization arena has excited quite a bit of interest since it brings a major new player into this fast-growing sector."
Miguel Rabay, 46, an international marketing and localization specialist at Microsoft Corporation from 1990 to 1997, has been named vice president for Web Business Development at Bowne Global Solutions and will head up the new unit, according to Claudio Pinkus, CEO of Bowne Global Solutions. Previously, Mr. Rabay was group manager for Microsoft's International Business Network and earlier, business development manager for the Middle East region and international marketing manager for Microsoft's Database and Development Tools
Group. In addition to English, he speaks French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic.
"Miguel is an acknowledged expert in international marketing, widely experienced in developing new channels in foreign markets," said Mr. Pinkus, "as well as being a noted localization specialist." Mr. Pinkus explained that "Localization is still an unfamiliar concept to many. In addition to translation, the most obvious component, it includes cultural adaptation, often content development -- clicking on the 'football' hyperlink on Infoseek's UK Web page brings up data on soccer, not the American sport -- and software reengineering of screens, drop-down menus etc., to accommodate the changed width of the translated text."
About Infoseek:
Based in Santa Clara, Calif., Infoseek Corporation provides a leading, free Internet navigation service at infoseek.com. Infoseek is one of the most frequently visited sites on the Internet because its easy-to-use product allows new, as well as experienced users to efficiently find the information they need on the World Wide Web, Usenet groups, company directories and from major news sources. Infoseek also offers the world's largest directory of World Wide Web sites organized by topic. Infoseek's navigation service has won numerous industry awards for its precise, relevant responses.
About Bowne:
Bowne Global Solutions, based in Los Angeles, is the world's largest software localization company. It was formed in March 1997 through the acquisition by Bowne & Co., Inc. of four companies, Paris-based I&G COM, Munich's GECAP, ME&TA of Madrid and Yokohama's Pacifitech, and their subsequent integration with Bowne's November 1996 acquisition of Los Angeles- based IDOC.
Bowne Global Solutions is a unit of New York-based Bowne & Co., Inc. Established in 1775, Bowne is an information technology company and the world's largest financial printer; a leading provider of software and Web-site localization services for the global marketplace and the market leader in electronic (EDGAR) filing services for U.S. corporations, law firms, investment banks, and mutual fund groups.
In addition to its core financial and commercial printing business, Bowne provides clients with document-building solutions, Internet and print-on-demand services, in multiple languages and in print and electronic formats.
Building upon its reputation for fast, reliable service and expertise in process development and execution, Bowne now provides a broad range of outsourcing solutions to meet clients' needs for reprographics and for document creation, management, printing and distribution services. |
