CE-Star with JapaneseA few weeks ago I had tested a possible solution to display Japanese characters on my Worldwide English-version of Windows Mobile 6. Although it didn’t quite work the way I wanted, it provided a little hope for the future, as it’s rather important for me to display the three character sets (four, if you include Romaji — the standard alphabet) used in the Japanese language. So it came as a pleasant surprise when I learned about another option for displaying, and entering, Japanese on my HP iPaq 211.

The program is called CE-Star, and it’s put out by the people at Mobem. It’s certainly not free, but they do offer a limited trial of their language packages. What’s interesting is that CE-Star can be used to add support for the Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese languages on a variety of platforms. After using just the Japanese component for three weeks, I can sum up the experience with just one word: smooth.

Japanese Character Display

Being able to clearly see something as complex and intricate as the Kanji character system is incredibly important if I expect to use the small computer as a learning tool. Luckily, CE-Star has no trouble working nicely with ClearType. On top of this, it’s incredibly fast.

I’ve been using this application for just over a month now and, in that time, it’s been working like a charm (aside from the little issue I had a week back). Sites look great in their native fonts and, best of all, I can actually read Japanese emails that are sent from work or Reiko on the PDA.

Japanese Character Entry

This is one area I’m not too impressed with, however, it’s not something that most would complain about. When it comes to data input on mobile devices, I’m all for handwriting recognition or something akin to Graffiti (a.k.a. Block Recognizer on Windows Mobile devices). Little keyboards are ugly, imprecice, and scream inefficiency at every turn. Sure, some may be pretty quick with the tiny keys and pen, but who ever heard of using a pen on a keyboard?

That said, CE-Star uses a standard on-screen Querty keyboard to receive input and shows both the hirigana as well as the possible katakana/kanji spellings that can be used. What I’m not too impressed by, though, is the poor accuracy of kanji characters when spelling various words.

Kanji is not my strong point, but I am getting a bit better at reading the complex writing system. My cell phone is pretty good at determining what characters I need, so it’s a bit of a disappointment when I see 搗き交ぜる offered when trying to spell 着きます. That said, I shouldn’t be too reliant on a computer’s kanji suggestions if I can’t properly read them.

Advantages Over Competition

• buttons still work
• minimal effect on system performance

Disadvantages?

• some menu items to JP (Regional Settings)
• WiFi manager in JP (Regional Settings)
• 15 day trial version will make email, SMS, and (potentially) Excel unusable on the PDA after expiration

Overall?

CE-Star is a great addition to any PDA that needs to display or regularly enter non-Roman characters. For $42 USD, I’ve been able to add much more functionality to my Windows Mobile device which, in turn, makes the little computer a great tool in my quest for better Japanese speaking and reading ability. There is a cheaper option available for $28 USD, and this will certainly do more than enough for 90% of us who need Japanese, Chinese or Vietnamese language support on our mobile devices. Heck, thanks to this small application, it’s now possible to use and update Super Memo, as well as write notes and simple articles, in Japanese.

I’ll write more about SuperMemo and its uses in the near future.

Have you used CE-Star on any of your mobile devices?

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