[FSUG-Bangalore] first Kannada PC?

[sankarshan]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 9:50 AM, Anivar Aravind
<anivar.aravind at gmail.com> wrote:
> I came across this strange news. It seems like a GNU/Linux
> Customization. He talks about Free Software & RMS aldo about the
> patent application for his input method. kannada Support is already
> existing is GNU/Linux

My comprehension is that the patent pertains to the input method. For
example, <http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=AneHAAAAEBAJ&dq=Brahmi+Keyboard>
provides the following details:

What is claimed is:

1. A character input system using a keyboard comprising a plurality of
keys, at least some of the keys each being assigned at least one Hindi
script character, and at least one key being assigned a halant, the
key assignments being spatially grouped on the keyboard according to
their phonetic characteristics.

2. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the key assignments
are also grouped according to the vowels and consonants.

3. The character input system of claim 2 wherein Hindi script
consonants are spatially grouped according to Vargs and Non-Vargs.

4. The character input system of claim 3 wherein the keys comprising
each Varg are grouped on keys that are adjacent or diagonal to one
another on the keyboard.

5. The character input system of claim 4 wherein the keys comprising
each Varg are grouped in a single row on the keyboard.

6. The character input system of claim 5 wherein the keyboard
comprises five Vargs of consonant keys that each contain five
phonetically-related consonants.

7. The character input system of claim 6 wherein the five Varg
consonant sets are assigned to keys that correspond to q-w-e-r-t,
a-s-d-f-g, z-x-c-v-b, y-u-i-o-p, and h-j-k-l-; on a standard keyboard.

8. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the Hindi final
consonant keys are grouped together on the keyboard.

9. The character input system of claim 8 wherein the Hindi final
consonant keys are grouped together on a row of the keyboard.

10. The character input system of claim 8 wherein Hindi final
consonant keys are assigned to keys that correspond to n-m-,-.-/ on a
standard keyboard.

11. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the keyboard
comprises a plurality of Hindi script vowel keys, each vowel key being
assigned to a Hindi script vowel.

12. The character input system of claim 11 wherein the Hindi vowel
keys are grouped together on the keyboard.

13. The character input system of claim 12 wherein the Hindi vowel
keys are grouped on keys that are adjacent or diagonal to one another
on the keyboard.

14. The character input system of claim 13 wherein at least some of
the Hindi vowels are assigned to keys that correspond to the
number-row on a standard keyboard.

15. The character input system of claim 14 wherein the diacritic Hindi
"vowel signs" (Matras) may be accessed by pressing a modifier key with
the appropriate vowel key.

16. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the keyboard is
adapted for use with the Hindi language.

17. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the keyboard is
adapted for use with an Indian Brahmi-based script based on
similarities to Hindi.

18. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the keyboard is
adapted for use with one of the group of Bengali, Telegu, Marathi,
Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese,
Manipuri and Sanskrit.

19. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the keyboard is
adapted for use with any non-Indian Brahmi-based script.

20. The character input system of claim 1 wherein the keyboard is
adapted for use with one of the group of Sinhala, Nepali, Burmese,
Tibetan, Laotian, Thai, Khmer, Javanese, Bali, Batak, Bugis/Buginese
and Tagalog.

21. A keyboard for the use with a Brahmi-derived script comprising:

    vowel keys mapped to the vowels, at least some of the vowel keys
being arranged in a row;
    initial consonant keys arranged in a plurality of subsets, each
subset comprising keys mapped to a group of phonetically-related
initial consonants, at least some of each subset of initial consonant
keys being arranged on a single row;
    final consonant keys mapped to final consonants, at least some of
the final consonant keys being arranged in a row; and
    a halant key mapped to halant character;

        wherein Brahmi-derived script communications may be inputted
quickly and efficiently as a result of the arrangement of character
keys and a simplified character set provided through use of the halant
character.

22. The keyboard of claim 21 wherein a row comprises horizontally adjacent keys.

23. The keyboard of claim 21 wherein the keyboard is adapted for use
with the Hindi script.

24. The keyboard of claim 21 wherein the initial consonants comprise
Varg consonants and the final consonant comprise non-Varg consonants.

25. A method of adapting a keyboard for a language that uses a
Brahmi-derived script such as Hindi script, the method comprising:

    mapping vowels to vowel keys arranged in a row;
    mapping initial consonants to initial consonant keys arranged in a
plurality of subsets, each subset comprising keys mapped to a group of
phonetically-related initial consonants, each subset of initial
consonant keys being arranged on a single row;
    mapping final consonants to final consonant keys arranged in a row; and
    mapping a halant character to a halant key;

        wherein Brahmi-derived script communications may be inputted
quickly and efficiently as a result of the arrangement of character
keys and a simplified character set provided through use of the halant
character.

26. A computer system for use with a language that uses Brahmi-derived
script, the computer system comprising:

    a processor;
    a memory system;
    a graphical user interface; and
    a Brahmi-derived script keyboard comprising a plurality of keys,
at least some of the keys each being assigned at least one
Brahmi-derived script character, and at least one key being assigned a
halant, the key assignments being spatially grouped on the keyboard
according to phonetic characteristics of the characters.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the keyboard comprises a virtual keyboard.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein the virtual keyboard comprises a
touch-sensitive screen.

29. A keyboard adapted for use with Hindi script, the keyboard comprising:

    a group of vowel keys each being assigned a Hindi script vowel,
the vowel keys comprising keys corresponding to the number-row on a
standard keyboard;
    a first Varg group of phonetically-related consonant keys
comprising keys corresponding to Q-W-E-R-T on a standard keyboard;
    a second Varg group of phonetically-related consonant keys
comprising keys corresponding to A-S-D-F-G on a standard keyboard;
    a third Varg group of phonetically-related consonant keys
comprising keys corresponding to Z-X-C-V-B on a standard keyboard;
    a fourth Varg group of phonetically-related consonant keys
comprising keys corresponding to Y-U-I-O-P on a standard keyboard; and
    a fifth Varg group of phonetically-related consonant keys
comprising keys corresponding to H-J-K-L-; on a standard keyboard.
    a final group of Non-Varg consonant keys comprising keys
corresponding to N-M-,-.-/-'-- on a standard keyboard.

30. A character input system using a keyboard comprising a plurality
of keys, at least some of the keys each being assigned at least one
Hindi script character, and at least one key being assigned a halant,
the key assignments being spatially grouped on the keyboard according
to the vowels and consonants, their phonetic characteristics and the
method in which the characters are learned.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
<http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/>