Lango (app)

Lango, originally known as Zlango,[1] was an icon-based "language" (actually a logographic writing system) built for web and mobile messaging. Zlango Ltd., the Israeli company which created and owned Zlango, released a Java and Brew application for mobile phones that used the Zlango icon language to create a new form of SMS, called ZMS, using Zlango's icons instead of words.[2]

Zlango, Ltd.
TypePrivate
IndustryComputer software
Founded2004 (Israel)
Headquarters3 Tvuot ha'Aretz, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Key people
Yoav Lorch, Founder
Roni Haim, CEO
Alon Greenberg, CFO
ProductsZlango mobile,
Zlango ICQ plug-in
Number of employees
40

Background

Zlango was created in 2004 by Yoav Lorch, an author and playwright, as an attempt to shorten text messages. When he found that abbreviated texts only removed 20% of letters, he decided to enter the field of pictographic language. The name Zlango is a combination of lingo, slang, and language, with the letter Z as homage to Esperanto creator L. L. Zamenhof.[3] On February 2007, Zlango Ltd. announced that it raised $12 million from the VCs Benchmark and Accel.[4] Zlango Ltd. was based in Tel Aviv and had around 40 employees at its peak. The company ceased to operate in 2014.

Lango around the world

Zlango's products were released in many countries, as well as over the Web, in many forms.

Zlango's mobile application was released in the following territories:

Apart from Zlango's website, Zlango also had an ICQ plug-in in several languages and countries that allows you to use Zlango icons to chat with your contacts.[12][13]

Zlango also appeared in the Israeli Children's Channel as a game show.[14]

The language

Zlango included more than 300 icons in several different categories.[15] The icons are not definitive, and most icons have multiple meanings: for example, the icon for "me" can also mean "I", the icon for "go" can also mean "come", and the icon for "car" can also mean "drive". The meanings that Zlango intended for each icon were only suggestions as Zlango encouraged users to invent their own personal meanings for icons.

According to Zlango Ltd., the Zlango icons were created to be memorable, rather than recognizable. For example, the "want" icon is a bird in a nest, but once you learn of the icon's meaning, it is difficult to forget.[2]

Zlango released several Zlango versions of classic stories which showed the potential for more than just picture messaging:

See also

References
  1. Sawers, Paul (2013-03-12). "Zlango Relaunches its Mobile-Messaging App as Lango". The Next Web. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  2. Arrington, Michael. "TechCrunch – Zlango's icon-based Language for SMS". Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  3. "New Israeli Cell Phone Language Says It With Symbols". Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  4. Arrington, Michael. "TechCrunch – Zlango Update – BenchMark and Accel Invest $12 Million". Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  5. "AMC launches messaging app Zlango - Telecompaper".
  6. "Zlango.com mobile Support". Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  7. "Zlango Talk: Globe Launches Zlango in the Philippines". Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  8. "Globe - Zlango". Archived from the original on 2009-09-02.
  9. "Zlango". Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
  10. "Zlango icon language infiltrates Swisscom Labs". Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  11. "King Kong Kiev". Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  12. "Zlango in ICQ (Hebrew)". Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  13. "Zlango - ICQ". Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  14. "Zlango on Kids TV". Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  15. Carthy, Roi. "TechCrunch – Zlango Launches Web Play". Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  16. Zlango. "Little Red Riding Hood". Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  17. Zlango. "Romeo & Juliet". Archived from the original on 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  18. Zlango. "Genesis". Archived from the original on 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  19. Zlango. "Adam and Eve". Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  20. Zlango. "The Tower of Babel". Archived from the original on 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
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