The Internet giant has applied its muscle to a phone application that can ‘listen’ to speech and provide translations in a computerized voice for English, Mandarin and Japanese.
by DAVID SARNO
Whether it’s C-3PO, the fastidious Star Wars droid fluent in 6 million languages, or Star Trek’s invisible but convenient “universal translator,” the miracle interpreter has been a favorite device of science fiction.
But now, on planet Earth, Google Inc. is using its vast computational and intellectual resources to put that futuristic technology directly in the hands of consumers.
If you’re traveling in Beijing and find yourself hungry for some American cuisine, you can activate the translator on your Google-powered phone, and say, “Where can I find a hamburger?” Moments later, the phone will spit out the phrase in Chinese — both as a string of text and, if you prefer, in a computerized voice.
Conversely, should you happen to be stopped on Sunset Boulevard by a visiting Japanese businesswoman with a question in her native language, simply ask her to speak it into the phone. Wait a beat, then press the play button to hear the translation: “Is it going to rain today?”
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