Recently
I was checking out one of Nokia's entry level phone (Rs.2000) - Nokia
2626. The phone had "Hindi" letters printed on the keyboard,
so I was doubtful whether it will have Tamil fonts. I launched the built-in browser
and went to INFITT website (HTML
page in Unicode), it said loading and processing for over 2 minutes; but I was delighted
finally to see the page display properly in Tamil (you can see the image in right).
This means that this entry level device has 1. Unicode support, 2. Tamil Unicode font,
3. Rendering support for Indic languages in particular to Tamil. This proves
the present
Unicode system for Indic languages does work even on the most basic/low-end devices
and processors. So the reason Tamil Unicode is not yet supported widely on all phones
especially high-end Windows Mobile, iPhone, Blackberry & Nokia Smartphones is
not because of any technical limitations, but a lack of interest from the manufacturers
to ship Tamil (Indic) support. It is mostly got to do with the wrong assessment by
them, that all Smartphone buyers in India can read and care only about "English" and
not their mother tongue.
References: Hindi
support in mobile devices in India.
Read the complete post at http://www.venkatarangan.com/blog/2009/02/05/Tamil+Pages+In+Nokia+Phone.aspx