Palm's new OS and the importance of connotation assessments Thread poster: Claudia Alvis
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On January 8th, Palm presented their new smartphone, the Palm Pre, and their new operating system, the WebOS. Which makes me think that Palm doesn't have a linguistics department (however they call it) that can perform a connotation check--maybe they have no intention of pushing their products on any Spanish-speaking country, or maybe only on those where people are very mature.
For those that don't speak Spanish, 'WebOS' sounds like 'huevos' which is a slang word for testicles. So i... See more On January 8th, Palm presented their new smartphone, the Palm Pre, and their new operating system, the WebOS. Which makes me think that Palm doesn't have a linguistics department (however they call it) that can perform a connotation check--maybe they have no intention of pushing their products on any Spanish-speaking country, or maybe only on those where people are very mature.
For those that don't speak Spanish, 'WebOS' sounds like 'huevos' which is a slang word for testicles. So it would be like calling it 'the Balls'. It just doesn't sound right.
Announcing Palm webOS, Palm Mojo Application Framework, and Palm Mojo SDK  Palm webOS, Palm's next generation operating system, integrates the power of a window-based operating system with the simplicity of a browser. The user experience is designed around multitasking, and makes it easy to run background applications, switch between applications in a single step, and handle interruptions and events without losing context. Using webOS, you’ll be able to develop fast (and beautiful) applications. The Palm Mojo Application Framework Palm webOS applications are easy to write using Mojo, a new application framework based on the HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript standards that web developers already know and love. webOS applications are installed and run directly on the device at native speed and have access to a wide range of device services. Mojo will enable you to: * Build applications with gesture-based navigation, transitions, and scrolling * Use the webOS notification system to alert users without interrupting them * Leverage the local storage capabilities of HTML5 so that data is available even when users are offline * Use a JSON-based message bus to tap into a wide range of device services, including contacts, calendars, and location And good news for Palm OS developers! There are a number of ways to migrate data from a an existing PDB file to your new webOS app. Stay tuned for more information for developers with Palm OS applications who want to build webOS applications. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 20:17
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| What's wrong with that? | Jan 10, 2009 |
Sounds very macho to me.
Cheers
Heinrich
| | | | Claudia Alvis
Peru
Local time: 12:17
Member
Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
Sounds very macho to me.
Cheers
Heinrich
That is indeed true. Maybe that's what they were going for.
| | | | Juan Jacob
Mexico
Local time: 11:17
French to Spanish
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| Catastrophic for Mexico... | Jan 10, 2009 |
...because huevos is largely used, not as eggs.
Bájale de huevos; ¡Mis huevos!; Por mis huevos; Muchos huevos, Hasta los huevos; Se me subieron los huevos; ¡Huevos, uey! and a lot more...
Claudia, you should post this in "Funny brandnames" posted several weeks ago.
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| Time to hire a linguist, no? | Jan 10, 2009 |
Thanks, Claudia,
I took the liberty to reference your post in my blog:
http://icotext.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/frivolous-friday-fun-2009-01-09
Cheerio,
Dierk
Claudia Alvis wrote: On January 8th, Palm presented their new smartphone, the Palm Pre, and their new operating system, the WebOS. Which makes me think that Palm doesn't have a linguistics department (however they call it) that can perform a connotation check--maybe they have no intention of pushing their products on any Spanish-speaking country, or maybe only on those where people are very mature. For those that don't speak Spanish, 'WebOS' sounds like 'huevos' which is a slang word for testicles. So it would be like calling it 'the Balls'. It just doesn't sound right. Announcing Palm webOS, Palm Mojo Application Framework, and Palm Mojo SDK Palm webOS, Palm's next generation operating system, integrates the power of a window-based operating system with the simplicity of a browser. The user experience is designed around multitasking, and makes it easy to run background applications, switch between applications in a single step, and handle interruptions and events without losing context. Using webOS, you’ll be able to develop fast (and beautiful) applications. The Palm Mojo Application Framework Palm webOS applications are easy to write using Mojo, a new application framework based on the HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript standards that web developers already know and love. webOS applications are installed and run directly on the device at native speed and have access to a wide range of device services. Mojo will enable you to: * Build applications with gesture-based navigation, transitions, and scrolling * Use the webOS notification system to alert users without interrupting them * Leverage the local storage capabilities of HTML5 so that data is available even when users are offline * Use a JSON-based message bus to tap into a wide range of device services, including contacts, calendars, and location And good news for Palm OS developers! There are a number of ways to migrate data from a an existing PDB file to your new webOS app. Stay tuned for more information for developers with Palm OS applications who want to build webOS applications.
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I'm not 100% positive but it stands to reason that it should be pronounced web-o-s. OS stands for operating system, and it's usually "spelled out" as "o-es" and not merged into "os", if that makes any sense.
The name does sound silly though, and Pre (name of the handset) sounds even sillier.
| | | | Mónica Algazi
Uruguay
Local time: 14:17
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
| They'd better localize it! | Jan 10, 2009 |
Otherwise, people will just laught their heads off at the new thingamagig.
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Mónica Algazi wrote:
Otherwise, people will just laught their heads off at the new thingamagig.
I assure you they won't. And I have a higher opinion of Spanish speakers than to think it will affect sales.
WebOS is not even the name of a product you buy... just the OS the product runs. I highly doubt that most people even know what OS their current phone is on. There is no reason for them to care about the name of this one, which, again, is web-O-S.
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Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 19:17
Spanish to English
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| OS (operating system) = SO (sistema operativo) in Spanish | Jan 11, 2009 |
FarkasAndras wrote:
.... web-O-S.
I think you are missing the point. For ES speakers "webOS" is read and pronounced "webos" (not web-oh-es), so... it sounds like "huevos" ("eggs" or "balls").
In Spanish, it's standard to "read" acronyms as words not as individual letters. For example, Spanish speakers say Pehesoheh (run in together, empasis on the "oh") rather than Pee-Es-Oh-Ee - enucianted in four distint syllables - for PSOE (the Spanish socialist party).
Sorry, I don't have a handle on phonetics, so can't spell it out better.
But I see exactly the point Claudia is trying to make:-)
[Edited at 2009-01-11 02:27 GMT]
| | | | Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 19:17
Spanish to English
+ ...
| os = bone, per os, oh-es, and es-oh | Jan 11, 2009 |
FarkasAndras wrote:
I'm not 100% positive but it stands to reason that it should be pronounced web-o-s. OS stands for operating system, and it's usually "spelled out" as "o-es" and not merged into "os", if that makes any sense.
The name does sound silly though, and Pre (name of the handset) sounds even sillier.
It doesn't "stand to reason", in EN yes, but not in ES, see post above:-)
[Edited at 2009-01-11 02:25 GMT]
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