3 - Language and Culture | Language Translation

NTT Docomo to launch second trial of cloud-based translator mobile phone

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:32:36 -0400

Japanese mobile operator will expand trial to cover 10 languages and 10,000 users

NTT Docomo will conduct a second trial of an experimental cloud-based service for real-time interpretation between Japanese and other languages via mobile devices. The trial is scheduled to take place from 1 June to 30 September.

The first trial, held from November 2011 to March 2012, involved some 1,000 Docomo subscribers and about 70 percent of the participants reported that they would like to use the service again.

In response the second trial will involve about 10,000 users and will expand to cover 10 languages besides Japanese. Seven of the languages will be available for face-to-face communication between participants.

The translator phone service utilizes Docomo’s “network cloud,” which integrates the company’s cloud and mobile network resources to handle the heavy processing required for rapid real-time interpretation.

Interpretation is handled in three steps: machine recognition of spoken words, rendering into another language, and conversion into a voice readout that the other party hears. The network cloud allows interpretation to be processed at the same rapid speed even after the introduction of seven additional languages.

Docomo expects to further enhance its translator phone service based on feedback from this second trial, aiming to launch a commercial service by March 2013.

Alex Dupont

Google breaks the language barrier by adding automatic translation to Gmail

Fri, 04 May 2012 16:09:13 -0400

The technology giant is rolling out a new feature to all Gmail users over the next days that will make email communication with those who speak a different language much easier.

Using the new feature, when a Gmail user receives an email in a foreign language, the recipient can easily translate the unknown language into their native tongue with a single click. By selecting the Translate message option in the header of the email, an English-speaking user can easily read an email that was sent in Japanese, for example.

Now, let’s say you’re bi-lingual and don't need translation for that language, simply click on Turn off for: [language]. Or if you'd like to automatically have messages in that language translated into your language, click Always Translate.

And if you accidentally turned off the message translation feature for a particular language, or don't see the Translate message header on a message, just click on the down arrow next to Reply at the top-right of the message pane and select the Translate message option in the drop-down.

Jeff Chin, the Product Manager for Google Translate, highlighted the practicality of the new feature.

“We heard immediately from Google Apps for Business users that this was a killer feature for working with local teams across the world. Some people just wanted to easily read newsletters from abroad.”

”Another person wrote in telling us how he set up his mom’s Gmail to translate everything into her native language, thus saving countless explanatory phone calls (he thanked us profusely). I continue to use it to participate in discussions with the global Google offices I often visit," Chin added.

Most people know by now that Google Translate, or any automatic/machine translation is far from being 100% accurate. For translation of high quality and accuracy, one must rely on the services of a professional, human translatior, or at least human editing of machine translation. This is also known as Post-Editing of Machine Translation, or PEMT.

Alex Dupont

Google Translate marks sixth anniversary with more than 200 million users

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:40:40 -0400

Google has announced that its popular language translator service Google Translate now boasts 200 million monthly users, many of whom are accessing it outside the U.S. and via mobile devices.

Six years ago Google first announced their approach to statistical machine translation and the company has since focused primarily on core translation quality and language coverage. Today Google can translate among any of 64 different languages, including many with a small web presence, such as Bengali, Basque, Swahili, Yiddish, even Esperanto.

Google now reports it has more than 200 million monthly active users on translate.google.com - and even more in other places where you can use Translate, such as Chrome, mobile apps, and YouTube.

According to their official blog, Google Translate has also become quite popular on the go. “The language barrier is never more acute than when you’re traveling - we’ve seen our mobile traffic more than quadruple year over year. And our users are truly global: more than 92 percent of our traffic comes from outside the United States.”

Franz Och, a research scientist with Google Translate sums it up well. “We imagine a future where anyone in the world can consume and share any information, no matter what language it’s in, and no matter where it pops up.”

“We already provide translation for webpages on the fly as you browse in Chrome, text in mobile photos, YouTube video captions, and speech-to-speech “conversation mode” on smartphones. We want to knock down the language barrier wherever it trips people up, and we can’t wait to see what the next six years will bring.”

Alex Dupont

3 - Language and Culture | Language Translation

NTT Docomo to launch second trial of cloud-based translator mobile phone

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Google breaks the language barrier by adding automatic translation to Gmail

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Google Translate marks sixth anniversary with more than 200 million users

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