The Release of the Welsh Phone

Guest blogger and CymruX intern Iago ap Steffan writes:

The release of the new Welsh phone, which has been developed by Samsung and Orange, will be released next week. Its release date is set for 1st September 2009. It is a great new development and a big step in the right direction in getting big international companies to recognise that Welsh is a living language and Welsh-speakers have the right to services in their native tongue. The menu will be in Welsh and predictive text too. This comes as the iPhone launches their Welsh language downloadable application.

What we need now is for people to show other companies that there is a demand in people wanting services through the medium of Welsh. The big companies that do offer Welsh services should also advertise, in order to show Welsh-speakers that these services do actually exist. I mean how many Welsh-speakers know that there is a Welsh directory enquiries service (118404)? How many know that they can contact some banks through the medium of Welsh?! More money and effort must be put into promotin these services - otherwise, how will speaking Welsh become another everyday activity?