A picture's worth a thousand words
By , CNET Asia
22/06/2006

About the writer
Darius Chang is a notebook expert who occasionally dabbles in smaller mobile devices.

Back in the days of ancient Egypt, written knowledge was literally caved in stone. Prior to the invention of the alphabet, hieroglyphics (i.e. cute little drawings used to describe anything from how to cook a llama to how to build a pyramid) bridged the language barrier by using the most common denominator of a community, graphics.

	Make a friend overseas with the help of Zango, even if he doesn't speak your language.

But in today's fast-paced society, it is tedious, to say the least, to write a simple message using hieroglyphics. Fortunately, a software called Zango has found a solution. Leveraging on the SMS platform, a simple interface is used to select appropriate images to depict any message.

Based on J2ME technology, Zango can be installed in any Java-compatible device. A multi-level menu interface allows a quick selection of the relevant images with the translation under each picture. Sending the message using the SMS protocol, the receiving phone will be prompted to install the software if it is not Zango-compatible. Once the message is displayed, the images can be translated to the handset's language. With the help of Zango, making overseas SMS pals is a hitch.