Urdu language Fonts and Keyboard Drivers for Android and Windows

Today Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Communication and IT Urdu language Fonts and Keyboard Drivers” for different media. This has been developed under the program of Technology Development for Indian Languages Programme (TDIL) of DeitY (Department of Electronics and IT), these would be available free  for public use.
 Urdu Keyboard
Urdu Keyboard driver with enhanced INSCRIPT, Phonetic and Custom for Windows 32 / 64 bit Operating system The keyboard manager released in January  2007  for Urdu was based on Inscript Keyboard layout.  Now, the INSCRIPT standard has been enhanced to  make it compliant to latest Unicode standard 6.2. The new Urdu Keyboard driver based on Enhanced INSCRIPT, gives freedom to the users for creating content, write e-mail, chat  in Urdu using UNICODE compliant software. Urdu by nature is written right to left. It  is capable of handling these right to left (RTL) scripts on any existing UNICODE compliant application, running under language enabled Windows such as - Notepad, MS-Word, etc in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 and above editions.User can download fonts from http://urdu.tdil-dc.in/

Using Unicode enabled web-content creation tools; user can also create HTML documents which can be published on the Web / Internet. The documents, letters and data created using it are UNICODE based. User can use the application to type in various layouts such as INSCRIPT / PHONETIC / CUSTOM by pressing either Capslock  /  Numlock  / Scroll Lock and can switch to English as and when required. The tool also comes with Virtual Onscreen Floating keyboard for click-typing or easy reference.
 Urdu Keyboard driver with enhanced INSCRIPT keyboard for Android platform
   On-Screen keyboard driver for Android devices, 3 layered  English QWERTY layer has been updated to support the English inputting. Thus English inputting is possible without a need to select the Android native English keyboard while working with Urdu. The basic prediction is now available for English inputting.
Supports Android version 4.1 and above
Downloadable from Mobile Service Delivery Gateway (MSDG) Appstore  or visit  http://urdu.tdil-dc.in/
 http://apps.mgov.gov.in/home.jsp
Features of Fonts
Unicode compliant Open Font format for Naskh script – 12 numbers
Unicode compliant Open Font format for Nastaliq script – 1 number

The font is the first contact, which the user makes with an application on his screen, and largely it is the choice and attractiveness of the font, which makes the application visually appealing. The beauty and the aesthetics of a font are closely intertwined and are dependent on the font designer. CDAC, GIST has always kept these factors in mind when designing the font, which has maximal visual appeal and readability.
A total of 12 Naskh and 1 number of Unicode 6.2 compliant fonts are being made available to the public.
 Naskh : Naskh, though cursive, is linear  in nature. Each letter joins the next moving from right to left. The glyphs change shape according to the place they occupy within the word.
Strictly defined by norms laid down by tradition, the visual beauty of Naskh lies in the seamless manner in which each letter joins  the next letter to create a text which is as attractive as a visual drawing.

Nastaaliq :  Nastaaliq is one of the most complex scripts to design. Nastaaliq moves both from right to left and vertically from top to bottom with the “nukte” or dots conforming to a strict placement order.
Nastaaliq demands strict conformity with a specific grammar which has been honed and fine-tuned over the centuries.
 A well-designed Nastaaliq font as is shown in the Nabeel font designed by GIST C-DAC, has both a visual appeal as well as grammatical economy and correctness:

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