AT&T is working on a service that will automatically translate text messages from Spanish to English and vice versa, no additional software required. So next time you want to shoot a text to a friend who doesn’t speak English all that well, you don’t have to worry about anything getting lost in the language barrier. More »
Twenty native speakers of Yucatec, Mexico’s most widely spoken Mayan tongue, met last Thursday to help bring the language to Google, Mozilla and Wikimedia projects. The event, dubbed Mozilla Translathon 2012, was organized to provide translations for Firefox, Google’s Endangered Languages Project, the WikiMedia software that powers Wikipedia and 500 crowdsourced articles, to boot. Finding the right words, however, can often be a tricky proposition. “There are words that can’t be translated,” Mozilla’s Mexico representative Julio Gómez told CNNMéxico. “In Maya, file doesn’t exist. Tab doesn’t exist.” Gómez continues to explain that the group may keep foreign words as-is, or find other terms to represent the same ideas. In addition to software localization, it’s believed that the effort could allow Maya speakers to “recover their identity and their cultural heritage,” according to Wikimedia México president Iván Martínez. If you’d like to peruse wiki articles in the indigenous language, check out the source links below.
Filed under: Internet
Google, Mozilla and Wikimedia projects get Maya language translations at one-day ‘translathon’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google’s multi-lingual translation app decided that (online) words were not enough. Beyond digital text, a new update to Translate will let Google’s bots translate what you’re looking at, whether that’s hand-written directions or a sign saying, “wrong way.” Though its not the first time we’ve seen an app that translates text from the camera (not even for Google) the update includes a convenient touch-guided interface that allows you to draw over the text you’d like converted into English — it seemed to master our beginners’ Spanish textbook with ease. The update also adds improvements to its voice translations, with new dialect preferences and improved handwriting recognition for Japanese input. Grab the download before you board that flight abroad this summer — just ensure it’s on a WiFi-only connection once you get there.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software
Google Translate app gets weighty update, will translate signs through your smartphone camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Early last year, Twitter kicked off its Translation Center efforts in hopes of bringing support for more languages to the site with help of amicable volunteers from all over the globe. Naturally, this has helped the renowned Blue Bird network immensely during its global gibberish quest, having added compatibility with right-to-left idioms since the program started and, more recently, Ukranian and Catalan. To make things even better, today Twitter’s announced it’s now available in a few more, including Basque, Czech and Greek — which means that a simple trip to account settings can now translate your current 140-character experience into one of the aforementioned languages if you so choose. Twitter’s Translation Center is open to anyone willing to lend a hand, so those interested in helping the cause can pay the more coverage link a visit to learn how to get involved.
Filed under: Internet
Twitter announces it’s now available in three more languages: Greek, Czech and Basque originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 03:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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