A mobile phone user tests his copy of "Defined". Pic: Lwin Maung Maung

THE first English-Myanmar mobile telephone dictionary, named “Defined” by its programmers, Technomation Studios, will hit shelves this month, said company spokesperson U Myint Thu.

Each CD copy of the program will cost K9500, which will include vocabulary lessons for the International English Language Testing System and matriculation exam, he said.

The software will be distributed by Pace Computer Systems through mobile phone shops, supermarkets and public communication offices.

Overseas buyers can purchase the dictionary online via the company’s website – www.defined.ygn.cc.

“This software is primarily aimed at people who are learning the English language, like businesspeople and overseas Myanmar,” he said.

Defined was developed using the Student’s English-English-Myanmar dictionary, which is published by the Ministry of Commerce, and will contain over 240,000 words.

To install the software, users must have access to an internet-connected computer to activate their online registration.

Two editions of the software – a full and a restricted version – will be included on the CD. But only handsets that support Java MIDP 2.0 CLDC 1.0 or above can use the full version he said; less advanced phones may only access the abbreviated version.

U Myint Thu added that the program will not affect any of the phone’s normal functions.

Ko Zaw Phyo Lin, a spokesperson from the Mobile Fan Club, said English-English, English-Chinese and English-Thai telephone dictionaries are already available from retailers and the Oxford English dictionary is the most popular. But he was tight-lipped on whether the program would succeed.

“We can only assess the success of a program after it’s released. If the software is convenient to use and easy to understand it may well earn a share of the market,” he said.

Ko Zaw Phyo Lin, who also owns a mobile telephone shop, said that even though telephone dictionaries are useful, only 10 percent of his customers ask to have them downloaded onto their handsets.

U Myint Thu said the company hopes to achieve a 2pc market share and will release a version later this year for CDMA handsets.