Nudi, developed by the Karnataka government's Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (CDIT), was revolutionary in its time. Version 4.0, released in the early 2000s, introduced a phonetic keyboard layout that made Kannada typing accessible to millions. Unlike complex transliteration tools, Nudi allowed users to type Kannada characters using a familiar QWERTY keyboard mapping. For example, typing "kannada" would produce "ಕನ್ನಡ." Its lightweight design and offline functionality made it a staple in government offices, schools, and print media across Karnataka.