Sangam Literature is being converted into mobile format by MobileVeda, a startup being incubated at the Vellore Institute of Technology, reports UNI. 42 books, including Thirukurral, Patthupattu, Ettuthogai and Silapathikaram, are available for download at their site thinnai.info, though it does require registration. The company intends to launch a platform for converting any content into mobile books, and I guess they’ll have to watch out for piracy then.

I had tried their first release - a Java based mobile book on the Periyar movement. There was very little there in terms of the usability: no help file to assist in navigating the document, no hyperlinks for accessing various sections/chapters. The only menu option is “Exit”, and the only saving grace is that every time you load the book, it starts where you’d left off. Otherwise, it’s just like a text file, only smaller in terms of filesize. The content for the Periyar book has been provided by Dravidar Kazhagam. (release).

• First Indian Novel For the Mobile; On Mobile Comics