translation | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Sat, 24 Jan 2015 01:39:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png translation | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Tweet translations come to twitter’s 144 characters https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/brendan-morgan/tweet-translations-come-to-twitters-144-characters/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/brendan-morgan/tweet-translations-come-to-twitters-144-characters/#comments Sat, 24 Jan 2015 01:37:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=232293 Translations of tweets between over 40 different language pairs is now available to twitter users. In the same way as Facebook translations, Twitter is teaming up with Bing to provide these translations and this feature is available to everyone straight away. Having said that you may need to enable it for your account, instructions for this …

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Translations of tweets between over 40 different language pairs is now available to twitter users. In the same way as Facebook translations, Twitter is teaming up with Bing to provide these translations and this feature is available to everyone straight away. Having said that you may need to enable it for your account, instructions for this are below.

Translations of tweets were available on Twitter's website previously, but they were withdrawn for unknown reasons. Now that tweet translations are back, they are also launching on iOS and Android apps as well as Tweetdeck and of course on the Twitter website. When you see a Tweet in a different language, look for the globe icon and pressing this will show the tweet in your language.

Twitter translate

Twitter made a small announcement (that you can presumably translate if you don't speak english) mentioning that the service is powered by Bing translation service. Twitter does warn however that the tweet translations are automatic, may be incorrect and “often fall below the accuracy and fluency of translations provided by a professional translator”.

You can find out more about what language pairs are supported and what to do if you see errors in the translations on the Bing FAQ website. If you do need to enable translations then you will need to go to your Account settings and change your Tweet translation setting by checking the box next to Show Tweet translations.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Maybe this will help twitter become more international and help users from different parts of the world communicate, but I kind of doubt that. It seems that this will only be used when you occasionally see a tweet in a foreign language, which for me at least is pretty rare, but maybe that's just me?

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Skype, now with Spanish and English Babel fish https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/brendan-morgan/skype-now-with-spanish-and-english-babel-fish/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/brendan-morgan/skype-now-with-spanish-and-english-babel-fish/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2014 09:41:32 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=226510 Skype announced several months ago that it would soon be rolling out it's real time voice translation service for customers. Today it begins the first small step of that roll out, with users speaking Spanish and English now able to talk to each other over Skype voice or video chat as well as IM without …

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Skype announced several months ago that it would soon be rolling out it's real time voice translation service for customers. Today it begins the first small step of that roll out, with users speaking Spanish and English now able to talk to each other over Skype voice or video chat as well as IM without needing to know a word in the other's language.

translate

While this has been in the works for a while, with Microsoft showing several tech demos almost a year ago, it's understandable, since it's looking to apply the technology to a network of 300 million users. As of today, anyone who has signed up for the beta and is using Skype on a Windows 8.1 desktop or tablet ,will be able to call their Spanish friends and talk to them in English, with them hearing your words “en español”. Also launching today is the ability to IM people in over 40 other languages and have the results translated into their native tongue. No more need to skip back and forth between Google translate.

[yframe url='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G87pHe6mP0I']

Since the technology is still new there will probably be quite a few incorrect translations, and some of these will never totally disappear due to several factors, from bad microphones to local dialects and people mumbling. The translations themselves however should improve with time due to the machine learning technologies that Microsoft is famous for and the feedback that can be given on the translations.

With the goal of one day providing translation services between all languages in real time, this could have some pretty huge implications, especially for the business world with Skype for Business (previously Lync). Just watching the video above should give you an idea of how easy it is to talk to someone, without knowing a word of their language.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: While I haven't yet tested this with any of my Spanish friends, I will be testing it as soon as the English <-> German option becomes available. I'm not expecting it to be perfect but it will get better with time and the faster they can improve it the better, as this could be a killer feature for businesses.

Source: blogs.skype.com

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Microsoft translation tool is near instantaneous https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/microsoft-translation-tool-is-near-instantaneous/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/microsoft-translation-tool-is-near-instantaneous/#respond Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:00:41 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=114991 Microsoft has been working on a translation tool that's designed to work similarly to the human brain, offering near instantaneous translations while preserving the cadence and tone of the speaker. This would be a big leap over currently available translation tools which are often inaccurate, slow and don't relate how things were said. The problem, …

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Microsoft has been working on a translation tool that's designed to work similarly to the human brain, offering near instantaneous translations while preserving the cadence and tone of the speaker. This would be a big leap over currently available translation tools which are often inaccurate, slow and don't relate how things were said.

The problem, says Microsoft chief research officer Rick Rashid, was that translation programs are still using a pattern matching system, a method he described as “extremely fragile.” 20-25 per cent of words are still misheard and features like sarcasm are almost impossible to recognise.

Going back to the drawing board, Microsoft came up with a technique called Deep Neural Networks, that uses human brain behaviour as a software model.

The results speak for themselves:

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu-nlQqFCKg&t=7m30s']

It's not quite instant, but the delay is only a second or two, between Mr Rashid speaking and his voice coming through very clearly in Chinese, using a similar intonation as he did. Apparently Microsoft used a big pool of sample Chinese speakers to be able to create a standardised audio language and then use modulation recorded from his own words, to then adjust the template.

Perfection has yet to be achieved and there is still an error rate of around 15 per cent. However this is a big jump over other programs that perform a similar function.

KitGuru Says: Potentially this could help improve relations between countries by making everyone feel more comfortable, hearing their native tongue. It could allow world leaders to converse directly without the need for translators, or at least let them not wonder what is being said when not being directly addressed.

I'm sure some of you guys make use of services like Siri already. How do you think voice technologies like this could help change the world?

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Docomo launches realtime voice translator https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/harrison/docomo-launches-realtime-voice-translator/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/harrison/docomo-launches-realtime-voice-translator/#respond Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:38:24 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=112585 It's the stuff of Star Trek. Japanese telecoms giant Docomo believes its ready to unleash an app that will translator English, Japanese and Korean in real time on phone calls. This is one of the most stunning announcements we've heard, in any language. KitGuru 聞くための準備. Companies like Dragon Speak have been working on voice recognition …

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It's the stuff of Star Trek. Japanese telecoms giant Docomo believes its ready to unleash an app that will translator English, Japanese and Korean in real time on phone calls. This is one of the most stunning announcements we've heard, in any language. KitGuru 聞くための準備.

Companies like Dragon Speak have been working on voice recognition software for a very long time. Working versions were already available in the market in the mid-1990s, although a decent Scottish/Geordie accent was often enough to throw them off the train completely.

These days, we expect to be able to ask Siri “Where can I find the nearest Pizza Hut” and for it to provide directions.

By the start of November, a native Japanese and native English speaker will be able to put an Android smartphone between them, speak in their own languages, and have the translation come through instantly.

The same will happen remotely. The application has the snazzy sounding name Hanashite Hon’yaku.

According to a statement from Docomo, “Hanashite Hon’yaku also can be used for face-to-face conversations in which the two speakers share one smartphone. French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai will be added for this application in late November, raising the number of non-Japanese languages to 10”.

The processing happens in the cloud, so almost any Smartphones will be able to enjoy Hanashite Hon’yaku.

That means that landlines will also benefit from this technology.

While the Japanese are certainly taking a lead in terms of ‘first to market', it seems that Microsoft is hot on their heals with the technology – and French telecoms specialist Alacatel-Lucent is promising to have around 12 languages available at launch soon – including Arabic and French. Useful if you wanted to order a ‘menu prix fixe' in Marseilles.

The French version has another advantage, called MyVoice, which allows you to create a synthesised version of your own voice  so you can kind of sound like you on the phone, when speaking fluently in a language you've never seen before. Nice trick if you can manage it.

Given Docomo's lead in 4G/L:TE technology, should we expect T-Mobile/Orange users to have this technology first in the UK?

Even with Docomo's premium product installed, Kirk would often requested the wrong kind of deep penetration from the Japanese masseuse. Much to Sulu's annoyance. Will we still need Google Translate in the future?

KitGuru says: We already have the tablet computers from Star Trek, as well as the slidy doors. Warp Drive and Teleporting might take a little longer, but with an instantaneous verbal communication translator in play – we're one step closer to living on the Enterprise.

Comment below or in the KitGuru forums.

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