Google Translate matures further

[harrybarracuda]

I've seen the text version of this demonstrate in Google Chat as part of Google Apps, from English to an Arabic speaker in the UAE, who replied in Arabic with an instant English translation.

I knew they were working towards real time voice translation but they're obviously further along than I thought.

This could open up the market for all those blokes that can't speak three words of Thai, and the bar girls that can't speak three words of English. I wonder if they'll include such things as "do you take it up the arse?" and "I want you to swallow every drop of jizz I pump down your throat"?

Last month I saw a mamasan in a Walking St. go go using an iPad to translate between Russian and Thai for some young lad who didn't know how to negotiate the bar fine and service fee, so it's a logical extension.

Google on Wednesday began turning Android-powered smartphones into interpreters with experimental software that lets the handsets translate conversations in real time.

Google on Wednesday began turning Android-powered smartphones into interpreters with experimental software that lets the handsets translate conversations in real time.

An in-the-works version of "Conversation Mode" was made available as the California-based Internet giant updated a text translation feature it added to Android smartphones a year ago.

"In conversation mode, simply press the microphone for your language and start speaking," product manager Awaneesh Verma said in a blog post.

"Google Translate will translate your speech and read the translation out loud. Your conversation partner can then respond in their language, and you'll hear the translation spoken back to you."

Conversation Mode only translates between English and Spanish for now, and factors such as regional dialects, background noise, or fast talking could vex translations, he warned.

"Even with these caveats, we're excited about the future promise of this technology to be able to help people connect across languages," Verma said.

"As Android devices have spread across the globe, we've seen Translate for Android used all over."

The majority of people using Translate are outside the United States, with daily use of the feature taking place in more than 150 countries, according to the Google product manager.

Translate supports 53 languages in text and Android devices handle voice recognition in 15 languages, Verma said.

[TizMe]

It will have to be a lot better than the online translator.

Translate to Thai=> มันจะต้องมีมากดีกว่านักแปลออนไลน์

Then back to Thai=> It would be much better than the online translator.

The sentence has completely changed meaning.

If you used it in a bar negotiation, you could seriously end up having something pink stuck up your own back passage...
ถ้าคุณใช้มันในการเจรจาต่อรองบาร์คุณอย่างจริงจังอาจ พบว่ามีบางสิ่งบางอย่างขึ้นสีชมพูติดอยู่ทางด้านหลัง ของคุณเอง ...
If you use it to negotiate seriously a bar you might find something in pink, stuck in the back of your own ...

[harrybarracuda]

I think that's why they are still testing it. (When I pumped that in and back, it came back minus the word "still").

The Google Rep told me that the whole system is designed to learn as it goes along, in other words the more people that use it, the better it will (or should) get.