Bebo founder in dictionary venture

Bebo founder Michael Birch is to launch an online video dictionary called Wordia.com next week (September 16). The new service will aim to go head to head with services such as Wikipedia and Microsoft’s Encarta.

The website is being positioned as “the world’s first digital and democratic online video dictionary”.

It aims to become the most referred to online dictionary, replacing the current reliance on printed dictionaries.

Wordia.com will feature traditional word definitions, etymologies, quotations and pronunciations. It will also feature professional and user-generated video content, designed to rival the functionality already offered on Microsoft Encarta.

Wordia.com has been co-founded by television producer Edward Baker and is Birch’s first new venture after selling Bebo to AOL for £420m in March.

Other rivals to the website also include Google’s Knol encyclopaedia, and popular websites such as Dictionary.com.

It is understood that only people with particular areas of expertise will write definitions on Wordia.com.