Google app now recognises speech in range of languages

Both iOS and Android users can now talk to the app and get a written translation of what they’re saying, in real time, on the screen. The move builds on Google’s current tools, which offer written translation of 90 languages, as well spoken translations in a select number of languages on Android devices.“Often the hardest […]

Both iOS and Android users can now talk to the app and get a written translation of what they’re saying, in real time, on the screen.
The move builds on Google’s current tools, which offer written translation of 90 languages, as well spoken translations in a select number of languages on Android devices.
“Often the hardest part of travelling is navigating the local language,” said Barak Turovsky, product lead for Google Translate.
“Now Google Translate can be your guide in new ways. Asking for directions to the Rive Gauche, ordering bacalhau in Lisbon, or chatting with your grandmother in her native Spanish just got a lot faster.”
The update will begin rolling out to both iOS and Android users from today.
When using the app, tap the mic to enter the voice translation mode.
Tap the mic again, and the Google Translate app will automatically recognise which language is being spoken by both members of the conversation.
Last month, Microsoft’s Skype released a beta version of its own live translation tool, which translates speech instantly into both text and spoken translations.
While it currently only interprets between English and Spanish, it will eventually offer 40 languages, which will mean people from different countries will be able to converse with ease.
“Skype is now removing another barrier to make it possible for people to communicate irrespective of what language they speak,” Microsoft’s Gurdeep Pall wrote in a blog post at the time.
“Skype Translator relies on machine learning, which means that the more the technology is used,