Company:Xiha Life
Xiha Life is a multilingual social networking website. It integrates Google's automatic translation software, Google Translate, which enables users to instantly translate comments and posts within the site itself.[1] The user interface has been translated into 42 languages, and the system supports communication in 56 languages.[2] Xiha Life has 750,000 members worldwide, with no single country comprising more than 5% of its membership.[1]
Xiha Life was founded on September 28, 2007, by Jani Penttinen, who serves as its CEO.[3] The name, "Xiha", is Mandarin for "happy" or "joyful".[4] In 2009, Xiha was named one of the Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to promising European tech companies.[2][5]
Its board includes Jaiku co-founder and former Google Project Manager Jyri Engeström,[3] Jan Achenius and Ville Miettinen.[6] Xiha Life is operated out of Sunnyvale, California, Switzerland, and Finland.[3][6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thompson, Clive, "No Language Barrier: How auto-translation software is saving the world's mother tongues", Wired 18 (7): 42.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Koskenlaakso, Leena, The Red Herring awarded XIHA LIFE: Multilingual social networking site continues to grow, Forum Virium Helsinki Newsletter, http://news.forumvirium.com/node/224, retrieved July 29, 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Butcher, Jack (January 25, 2010), XIHA Life secures $1m and adds Jaiku's Engestrom to board, TechCrunch, https://techcrunch.com/2010/01/25/xiha-life-secures-1m-and-adds-jaikus-engestrom-to-board/, retrieved July 29, 2010.
- ↑ Finnish Xiha Life world’s first multilingual online community, Finnfacts, May 18, 2009, archived from the original on August 13, 2009, https://web.archive.org/web/20090813202940/http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/archive/finnish-xiha-life-worlds-first-multilingual-online-community/, retrieved July 29, 2010.
- ↑ Red Herring 100 Europe 2009 – Winners, Red Herring, http://www.herring100.com/RHE2010/pastwinners/RHE2009/RHE2009html.html, retrieved July 29, 2010.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 XIHA Life Receives $1 Million in Seed Funding, Veraventure, January 27, 2010, http://www.veraventure.fi/yhtio/uutiset/1/xiha_life_receives_1_million_in_seed_funding, retrieved August 5, 2010 (Xiha Life press release).
External links