Translation phone - Does edge I cut has subway road map?
From the always interesting, new automated translation technology front comes this release…
NEC invents translation phone
JAPANESE electronics giant NEC has created a world-first real-time translator on a mobile phone, which can instantly turn Japanese travellers words into English.One second after the phone hears speech in Japanese, the mobile phone shows the text on the screen. One second later, an English version appears.
NEC said it was the first time in the world that automatic translation is available on a mobile phone without external help.
The company made it possible by making the software, which includes a voice-recognition system and translation functions, compact enough to operate on a small microchip mounted in a cellphone, it said.
The software, which can recognise some 50,000 Japanese words, is especially designed for smooth translation of travel phrases such as “Can I have a subway route map?”.
Why do I find this so interesting? And I know that when I paste the above phrase into Bablefish and translate to French and back to English I come up with, “Does edge I cut has subway road map?” I can’t help but think that as technology stands today, this phone will probably get a tourist slapped in the face before it gets you to your final destination.
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