Toronto Star ArticleThis was just posted in the Toronto Star. Same story but nice to see more exposure.
Trading in his platform boots and skin-tight spandex for a business suit and loafers, Kiss founder Gene Simmons has signed on as corporate pitchman for Toronto-based Ortsbo Inc.
Simmons, a NYSU graduate who speaks several languages, will use his prodigious tongue to promote Ortsbo and its translation software.
The application translates Internet messages into 50 languages across 12 social media platforms, including Facebook and China’s instant messaging service Tencent QQ.
“Ortsbo takes a sledgehammer to the Tower of Babel that is modern communication,” Simmons said. “It connects humanity in real time. We are all one people.”
Suggesting he was made for his new role, which includes input on branding and other creative matters, Simmons said, “Ortsbo has changed my life. I can now instantaneously communicate with fans around the world in their native language. It’s opened up so many new doors for me, personally and in business.”
The Kiss bassist also created the swirling, blue-lettered Ortsbo logo.
Ortsbo is relaunching its website to offer users a platform compatible with desktop and mobile browsers, iPads and other portable devices.
Terms of the partnership with Simmons have not been disclosed.
Unlike Google’s Translate service, the Ortsbo platform does not require cutting, copying and pasting text into a translator; it automatically translates typed text into the specified language, said Ortsbo president David Lucatch.
Simmons, an Israeli immigrant with a Hungarian-born mother who arrived in the U.S. as a child before founding rock band Kiss in the early 1970s, said the technology has a personal resonance.
“When I landed, I couldn’t speak a word of English. I think making communication easier makes the world a better place. It’s a game-changer,” Simmons told the Star.
Less than nine months after its launch Ortsbo, which means “local” in Swedish, has reached nine million unique monthly users in 170 countries.
Ortsbo also offers a business product that includes private chat networks and custom services.
The service is free on social media, but some offerings including mobile apps will require payment.
Ortsbo, a unit of Toronto’s Intertainment Media Inc., recently received an unsolicited $30 million (U.S.) bid for the translation platform from a North American investment firm. Lucatch said the offer is under review.