MCLC: iPhone Chinese apps (13,14)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Daan van Esch <daanvanesch at gmail.com>
Subject: iPhone Chinese apps (13)
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The OCR add-on costs $14.95. You can buy it separately within Pleco after
you've downloaded the app from the App Store, or as part of their complete
package of add-ons. See http://www.pleco.com/ipordering.html.

Pleco is also available for Android these days.

Cheers,

Daan

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From: Mat Bettinson <mat.bettinson at gmail.com>
Subject: iPhone Chinese apps (14)

I'd like to add some comments to the ongoing discussion of Pleco.

Given that one of the greatest boons of this application is the variety of
licensed dictionaries available, list members may be interested to learn
that a number of new dictionaries are in the pipeline. Currently
classified as 'early access', the dictionaries are not generally available
as add-ons through the built-in add-on functionality yet but can be bought
and installed manually.

Among these dictionaries is the 古汉语大辞典, the only classical dictionary
available on mobile devices to my knowledge. There's also a commercial and
a free Chinese medicine dictionary. This forum post by the author Mike
Love has further details and pricing:

http://www.plecoforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3407

Personally I feel compelled to deliver the strongest recommendation for
Pleco. I've been using the application for a number of years on Windows
Mobile before the iPhone existed. Pleco also has excellent flashcard
capabilities using the usual spaced repetition type systems. When I began
studying undergraduate Chinese, Pleco coupled with two hours train journey
a day proved utterly invaluable for tackling the feats of athletic
memorisation needed to acquire Chinese vocabulary.

Some years later I've found myself fortunate to be involved in a grant
aimed at implementing electronic eLearning resources for undergraduate
students of Chinese, kicking off with a course in Modern Chinese
Literature at the University of Melbourne taught by Anne McLaren. The goal
is to produce a resource for Chinese eLearning on desktops and mobile
devices, and to support those by producing/converting some material from
the course so that students can use these applications to assist their
studies. This will include word lists and pre-made flashcard files for
Pleco and other (free) flashcard applications.

If anyone else is aware of similar initiatives elsewhere I would be most
grateful to learn of them.

Oh and one last thing, Pleco is also available on Android devices. It used
to be something of a poor relation compared to the iOS version but lately
it's improved a great deal. Nevertheless the best platform for serious
Pleco use is probably an iPad or, if using the OCR feature, an iPhone.
Sadly the iPod Touch's camera isn't particularly useful for OCR but
otherwise that's a relatively inexpensive platform for Pleco.