tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post3165437417619365834..comments2024-03-29T16:58:01.576+13:00Comments on AmeriNZ Blog: Advertising the futureArthur Schenckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10568299067544221996noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post-33351148778076669402015-05-24T12:08:36.323+12:002015-05-24T12:08:36.323+12:00Yes, Skype Translator is a step in the right direc...Yes, Skype Translator is a step in the right direction, but far from being what the AT&T ad imagined. First, Skype Translator's only available for Windows 8.1, which means it's useless for Mac users like me—and any number of Windows users, too. Second, so far the voice version works only with <br />English, Spanish, Italian, and Mandarin—useful, to be sure, but it's <br />still nowhere near universal. However, Skype Translator's Instant Message translator <br />does work in 50 languages—though as we all know, text translators aren't <br />always accurate—sometimes, in fact, they're wildly inaccuate.<br /><br />So, I stand by saying that "real-time, live language translation of speech" doesn't yet exist, though I do think that Skype Translator is an early step toward that ultimate goal. I also think that it'll be software a generation (or two, or three, or…) down the road that begins to crack it, not this particular version of this particular product.<br /><br />Still, it <i>IS</i> progress.Arthur Schenck (AmeriNZ)http://amerinz.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34249799.post-41768274759418752422015-05-24T00:42:21.120+12:002015-05-24T00:42:21.120+12:00www.skype.com/en/translator-preview/www.skype.com/en/translator-preview/guestnoreply@blogger.com