Google Pinyin
Encyclopedia
Google Pinyin IME is an input method developed by Google China
Labs. The tool was made publicly available on April 4, 2007.
, Windows Vista
, and Windows 7. There are both 32-bit
and 64-bit
versions available.
However, the Linux user community is porting the Android Google Pinyin IME to the non-Android Linux IME framework SCIM
in the scim-googlepinyin module.
After Christmas 2009, the Google pinyin module for SCIM became also available for the Nokia Maemo 5 platform, which means it can be downloaded to any n900 phone through the official application repositories.
, an indication that the dictionary was taken from Sogou
, one of Google's competitors in the Chinese Internet market. On April 8, 2007, Google admitted that they used "non-Google database resources". Shortly thereafter, a new version of Google Pinyin was released which no longer appeared to be based on Sogou's database.
Google China
Google China is a subsidiary of Google, Inc., the world's largest Internet search engine company. Google China ranks as the number 2 search engine in the People's Republic of China, after Baidu...
Labs. The tool was made publicly available on April 4, 2007.
Windows
, Google Pinyin is available for Windows XPWindows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, and Windows 7. There are both 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
and 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
versions available.
Android
Google released a Pinyin IME system for Android 1.5 or newer in March 2009. It is not clear how much code this IME system shares in common with the closed-source Google Pinyin, although a lot of the core algorithms are written in C++ and called through a JNI bridge, hinting at a common source origin. The Android Pinyin IME supports user dictionary synchronization with the desktop version.Linux
By the end of 2008, more than 20% users of Google Pinyin wanted a Linux version of the input method, which was answered in the FAQ section with a general PR phrase "We always strive to provide a better user experience and we never stop our hard work to fulfill the customer needs".However, the Linux user community is porting the Android Google Pinyin IME to the non-Android Linux IME framework SCIM
SCIM
The Smart Common Input Method platform is an input method platform containing support for more than thirty languages for POSIX-style operating systems including Linux and BSD....
in the scim-googlepinyin module.
After Christmas 2009, the Google pinyin module for SCIM became also available for the Nokia Maemo 5 platform, which means it can be downloaded to any n900 phone through the official application repositories.
Mac OS X
A closed beta version of Google Pinyin for Mac OS X was leaked on September 14, 2010. The first public version is not yet available.Copyright infringement allegations
After Google Pinyin was initially released in April 2007, it was soon discovered that Google Pinyin's dictionary database contained employee names of Sogou PinyinSogou Pinyin
Sogou Pinyin Method is a popular Chinese Pinyin input method editor developed by Sogou, a Chinese search engine.A Sohu announcement, released on June 5, 2009, indicated that Sogou Pinyin input software has been installed more than 80 million times since it was released three years ago, and Sogou...
, an indication that the dictionary was taken from Sogou
Sogou
Sogou.com is a Chinese search engine which can search text, images, music, and maps. It was launched 4 August 2004 and is owned by Sohu, Inc.. As of April 2010, it has a rank of 121 in Alexa's internet rankings. Sogou provides an index of up to 10 billion web pages. Its major domestic competitor...
, one of Google's competitors in the Chinese Internet market. On April 8, 2007, Google admitted that they used "non-Google database resources". Shortly thereafter, a new version of Google Pinyin was released which no longer appeared to be based on Sogou's database.
See also
- Pinyin input method
- Google IMEGoogle IMEGoogle IME is a set of typing tools by Google for 22 languages, including Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Serbian, Tamil, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Urdu...
- Google Japanese InputGoogle Japanese InputGoogle Japanese Input is an input method published by Google for the entry of Japanese text on a computer. Since its dictionaries are generated automatically from the Internet, it is much easier to type personal names, Internet slang and ACG terms....
- Microsoft Pinyin IMEMicrosoft Pinyin IMEMicrosoft Pinyin IME is the pinyin input method implementation developed by Microsoft and Harbin Institute of Technology. It is bundled with Microsoft Windows and Chinese editions of Microsoft Office...
- Sogou PinyinSogou PinyinSogou Pinyin Method is a popular Chinese Pinyin input method editor developed by Sogou, a Chinese search engine.A Sohu announcement, released on June 5, 2009, indicated that Sogou Pinyin input software has been installed more than 80 million times since it was released three years ago, and Sogou...