Tuesday, March 29 2005 19:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: HP Labs India, the R&D outfit of global IT major HP focusing on innovating IT products aimed for low cost nations, will soon begin field trials for its script-independent handwriting recognition technology and broadcasting services, company officials said today (Mar 29, 2005).

"We are in trial stage for some technologies developed here. It will take sometime before we could put these for commercial purposes," HP Labs India (Mobility Solutions) director Ajay Gupta told reporters in Bangalore.

He said the lab, one of the seven of HP in the world, takes into account various factors like affordability, communication, infrastructure and local language needs before developing a new technology.

"Technologies developed here are aimed at commercialising them for HP's global market," Gupta said.

HP Labs is also working on "Script Mail," an email device that scans your handwritten page as an electronic mail; electronic form filling in local languages and on adult literacy testing programmes.

HP Labs director Richard H Lampman said HP invests about $5 billion on its global R&D activities of which around five per cent is devoted for HP Labs.