Google made a learn-to-read app for schoolchildren in India

Google has kept its education initiatives, ranging from Chromebooks for schools to teaching software, within the confines of the classroom. "Bolo" (Hindi for "speak") is essentially a reading assistant for elementary school children that harnesses Google's speech recognition and text-to-speech smarts. Kids can read through a mix of Hindi and English stories with the help of an in-app learning assistant, who appears as a young girl named "Diya." She offers tips and corrections and can even translate Hindi words into English. The app supports multiple users and works offline in order to avoid connectivity issues in rural areas -- while Google works on getting those regions online through WiFi hotspots in remote train stations.