Last we heard from Zlango the company had announced a $12 million in funding from Benchmark Capital and Accel Partners. Today Zlango is announcing its first major foray in the Web space.
For those of you unfamiliar with Zlango, the company created a new language based on slightly over 200 icons in categories such as People, Actions, Places and Feelings. The Zlango offering was originally aimed at injecting life and excitement into the ever popular but boring SMS, however, the company’s jump into the Web space indicates an understanding that engaging users requires Zlango to extend itself beyond a pure mobile play.
Today’s launch kicks off Zlango’s roll out of a number of social-oriented features. Two of the most notable features available today are:
- Zlango Composer – A Flash driven composer featuring an on-the-fly “Text to Zlango” translator (see screenshot), making it a snap to create fun messages. Messages can be shared, emailed or embedded across a number of social sites (thanks to integration with Gigya).
- zMess – Zlango’s version of a micro-blog. This is an area for users to view public messages, or private ones with groups of friends. Unfortunately, support for threaded comments is not included.
Here is Zlango’s promotional video for the launch:
By year’s end Zlango intends to add support for user generated content, allowing users to add their own icons, contribute content (videos and books), as well as generate personalized merchandise (t-shirts, caps, etc.). Also on the horizon are an API, browser extensions and a Facebook app.
On the business front, the most notable achievement of the year is a partnership with Nokia to preload the Zlango into handsets. Zlango is now also deployed at all three Israeli operators, and has inked deals with operators in the Philippines, Ukraine, Malaysia, Finland, and Indonesia.
I appreciate my comment isn’t exactly constructive, but, how the hell they managed to get funding I do not know! What a load of rubbish.
Dear Sir,
Looks like blogging is here to stay with m-blogging available in our own Indian State.
http://tekno-wo...ld.blogspot.com
Hi Dawson,
exact same words the J.K Rowling got when she came to publish Harry Potter… where is your vision…?
This is exactly the kind of app millions of tweens and teens will use, but use 30+ somethings don’t exactly “get.” Doesn’t mean it won’t be a huge success.
Sorry – should have re-read my own post – that is “us 30+ somethings…”
Ah well, it’s healthy to have differing opinions. I vote it will fail, the UI sucks, the graphics look too cartoonish and language structure doesn’t even make sense if you were considering having any kind of real conversation. It’s a gimmic and will interest few for a while then burn. Sorry, got man-flu today, maybe I’m just grumpy and this will be a huge success! I doubt it though.
do they have a “banging” icon? it’s mandatory for social networking…
Is … um … “papa” wearing a wifebeater and a top hat?
You know that we’re in bubble when crap like this gets coverage on supposedly serious startup blog.
We live in a time when people want information fast. I commend them for trying to accomplish this sometimes daunting task, but the fact of the matter is that people get their information more quickly by skimming words.
You can’t expect to tell me what over 200 icons mean, and expect me to remember their meanings the next day. I will be struggling to remember 7-10 (phone numbers?).
Sorry I don’t get it. It’s not intuitively obvious what the icons mean…and exactly what can icons/graphics do that words can’t? (esp. on the web). I’ll spend more time deciphering the icons than reading words.
Who’s going to created the F-ckedCompany.com for current bubble?
Looks like stripgenerator, just done a bit more nicely in GUi sense of way I guess. Hats off to those who managed to get funds for this idea.
Many of these comments are probably sour grapes, but it is amazing to see something like this get funding. I would like to know how the venture process worked with Zlango. Given the process they must have revenue now, great management team, killer idea, and a good roadmap towards awesome revenue growth. To get $12 million in Series A – the things above must be stellar in nature and the company valued above $50-100 million (?). I don’t see it, but we don’t have a copy of their business plan. Best of luck to Zlango! There is hope for the rest of us.
Keyboards spelt the end of handwriting capabilities now Zlango spells the end of words.
Roi, keep up the good work!
i have to agree with Dawson, that said, best of luck to them from the bottom of my heart.
I don’t think the big surprise with Zlango is that they got funding, but more the size of the funding that they raised. I still believe this company has the potential for creating a phenomenon for the 10-16 year old set.
This new move into the Web is an interesting one. I wonder whether they are working on something for IM, which would seem to be the natural medium for the age group they are targeting.
Looks waaaayyy too juvenile for my taste.
http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com
What is the revenue model here?
guys,
Zlango makes a lot of sense to younger kids
4-9 will use it like crazy, it is so more cool than “writing text”
At 4, most kids know already how to use a mobile phone (how to find all the games inside of it), how to browse the internet, but they don’t really know or like to write much.
I believe that older people will also find some limited use for it, like sending my girlfriend “I love you” message with Icons
Even that this is a VERY simple idea, you have to admit, it is going to be a very interesting play…
Well, it seems many people are surprised, that a company that may change the face of the ~1,800,000,000 SMSs a year worldwide, gets funding for 12M$ . i find it surprising that serious people are surprised.
the language is not intuitive at first, true, and for me (34) SMS is something more pragmatic than fun, but still i do have some icons replacing words in my IM programs, and i do like it and i do understand it.
zlango as it appears is a language, learning Spanish or French can take forever, learning 200-300 icons ….. will take me days or weeks at most, and since i have finished sending formulas in chemistry over SMS, i guess many of the things i say over SMS will be easy to create/replace with icons.
the funds are not high at all compared to the market, and the people who read techcrunch are not the target audience for zlango, so maybe this can cause some misunderstanding of what we see here, personally, i predict this company a very big future, sending black text in SMS is what i have been doing for the past 16 years, the time for change has come. younger people will love and use it much more than i do, i imagine zlango will also find its way to IM and greeting cards, and also will be a bug thing for small kids, who at the age of 4 can read a story with icons, but not with letters, regardless of their native language. Good luck guys, it will be interesting to see where this goes.
zax, i agree with you on some points especially tech-crunch readers not being a target.
but asking a person or a kid for that matter to take “days or weeks” as you put it to relearn texting is were i disagree with you.
kids and people already use shortcuts for words and these shortcuts became the standard, i dont see how you can ask people to change these well established rules.
take this for example, one kid takes a week to learn these symbols and he starts talking to his friends with these symbols yet his friends are still using familiar short cuts, his friends will get frustrated with him and probably stop replying to him, if you can convince one kid to learn it there is no way you can convince all his circle of friends, there is no way no how.
as far as 1,8000,000,000 SMSs a year, thats a huge market and thats where i might see them having a chance, if they can convince a very small sector then they have succeeded, although highly unlikely they do have a chance. i have seen much worse startups on tech-crunch just this last week alone.
A lot of these comments are a little short sighted, and US centric.
The “longhand” language we have today was created for a much slower world of quill pen and parchment. It is not fit for purpose for the instant and rapid, multiple communications which technology now enables, and which lifestyles now demand. People are tired of writing, and dragging their eyes across endless lines of text. That is why so much invention of replacement intuitive shortcut symbol language is already happening (much of it user generated) particularly in the mobile environment where screen and button size, and time and attention are such constraints.
Symbol/icon languages are not new. Cuneiform script, a system of pictographs, was created in 3000BC. Chinese languages are partly pictographic, and Egyptian hieroglyphics are the same (but 2000 characters).
I think Zlango is onto a winner. The world needs a new “shorthand” language that is fast, intuitive, colorful, visual and expressive, to match the explosion of communications devices, opportunities, and technologies. Good to see that Nokia share that Vision.
One things for certain: it could enable people to speak without the barrier of language getting and for that it may be worthwhile for older people to learn.
However, there are advanced digital translators around that can cost around $100 yet don’t include all languages, that could also be used instead of Zlango:
http://www.fran...ds/translators/ without requiring the necessity that two interacting people learn it, only one.
Zlango in the end will only be used by young people, and making sounds from a limited number of character(English) seems better than learing 1000s of characters (ie Zlango or Chinese), but Zlango might prepare western kids for learning Chinese by exercising those mental abilities whilst young. Also, once a child learns it, they’ll have it for the rest of their lives possibly and if enough people around the world know it, that could serve them well.
Adrian,
Couple of points…
One of the great things about Zlango is there are only 200 icons, compared with hundreds of thousands of words (English) or characters (Chinese).
The starting point will be young people, but this is not an “only”, as todays young people are tomorrows population. Also, Zlango is making a good start on normalizing the concept by producing books, e.cards, merchandise etc. And don’t forget, lots of older people already use abbreviated shorthand language.
Zlango requires a screen, let’s not forget.
English only has 26 letters and can be written with a pen. Crossing ethnic boundaries with Zlango could be one of its overall positives – however, the world is become more English focussed, is it not so that is also doing the same job? Furthermore, those not learning English, as would be seen in underdeveloped nations are unlikely to be accessing Zlango, so maybe my premise would not be entirely true for it to bridge ethnic barriers.
However, implementing Zlango’s protocol in a handheld translator could make travelling easier.
I worked with Zlango in the past, and my first comments, when i was first introduced to the product were skeptical as well.
However, then you see how quickly teenagers learn and embrace it, and you realise the potential is astounding. In Israel they even have a TV quiz spin-off.
And there’s also the potential of people communicating across different languages.
Zlango could be a success because of the coolness factor, but PLEASE don’t try to convince me (us) about the “new language” thing or the “international language” thing. It will never be a language to express something more than the teenager chat things.
To express real things you need precise words (or symbols). If you want to try it with that kind of language you need way more symbols. There is a reason why we use letters to express ourselves and the reason is that we can easily combine them to form more difficult concepts.
Try to write my comment with Zlango symbols.
Anyway I think it will be successful on its field.
To no. 7:
they DO have a “banging” icon, and it’s a banging-cool one!
maurizio:
“It will never be a language to express something more than the teenager chat things.”
agree completely, not it should be. “teenager chat things” are more than enough to make them successful.
interesting comments… I share some of these views, but for my part, you may all be forgetting one thing – FUN!… Zlango does add FUN to a boring, very technical, black&white… messaging environment, be it email, IM, SMS or any other kind of text-driven phenomena.
Just go to their website http://www.zlango.com and try it… you will be laughing your asses off just looking at these cool icons:-)
Kozmo and other Zlango employees, please don’t disturb the free flow.
I am afraid this will be remembered as one of the icons of the second bubble age. It is not what young teens want, it’s what 30+ VC’s imagine is “cool” and if somebody argues, well, he is too old to get it… nice, ah? when you take 200 icons and try to make a pure language they become letters , well, 200 letters is a lot. It will end up being icons or substitute for certain shortcuts that already exist. It is enough to read the funding announcemetn in Zlango to see how lame it is, like indians talking in an old non politically correct movie. Oh, and the english to Zlango latest feature edition is great, all you need on the other side is Zlango to English and boom, no problem at all!!
Well Seth,
If ordinary people are allowed to comment here, so do Zlango enthusiasts, employees or others. Visual language is something the world needs, wants and uses.
Let the market decide, ok?
(BTW, what’s wrong with the Indian? I love them!