Search giant Google announced on Monday that its Maps service will now be available in Hindi. Starting Tuesday, map users can simply change the language settings on their Android device or on their desktop and start using them.
Cities, localities, important roads and points of interest will be displayed in Hindi on the new Google Maps and on Google Maps on Android. The new labels have been created by transliterating English names to Hindi, or, translating the English names to Hindi and ensuring the text resonated with local dialects.
This is part of Google’s larger agenda with maps and using them to reach out to more Indian users. Google has often said that its strategy in India includes making its services available in regional languages.
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On your computer, you can change language preferences on the Google account settings to Hindi. On your Android phone (versions 4.3 and above), you can go to the Language and Input menu (in phone settings) and select Hindi.
As always, Google is also inviting users to help improve the experience. In its official blog post, it says that given that each language can have its own nuances, it welcomes suggestions for change.
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