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Google demos speech translation via Android smartphone
NEAR SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION from English to German and back was demonstrated by Google CEO Eric Schmidt during his IFA 2010 keynote speech, using an Android smartphone.
"Live translate is the next logical succession, and may be possible in the future," Schmidt told the audience after Google's product management director Hugo Barra demonstrated the experimental app. The Google app translated parts of the conversation in turn so that the pair could communicate. Because it is experimental there is no roll out date as yet.
Schmidt went further and in typical keynote fashion made grandiose statements about where electronics is going. "In the future you won't forget anything because computers will be on hand to remember everything," he predicted. He added that people will never be lost and that cars will drive themselves.
Google TV also got a showing, with Schmidt saying that it will not be for passive viewing, but will encourage users to participate. But do they want to? During the keynote he demonstrated a seamless transition from watching TV to browsing the Internet on a Sony Bravia telly.
Sony told The INQUIRER yesterday it expects Google TV to be launched by the end of the year in the US. The Android platform will be integrated with Google TV, and people will be able to use smartphones and voice commands to change channels and get Android apps on their TVs. The software for Google TV is currently being tested, and three devices are to be launched in conjunction with Sony and Logitech later this year in the US, Sony said. It did not mention a European launch.
Barra also showed off improvements to the voice search app with the phrase "navigate to a museum with Egyptian stuff". The device found Berlin's Pergamon Museum. The firm has said before that mobile platforms will be crucial to the future of search. Schmidt told IFA audience that mobile search traffic grew by 50 per cent in first half of 2010, and that search traffic from Android phones tripled in the same period.
It was also announced that Chrome, while targeting the notebook space, could also be used for tablets, and that the firm will announce details of partnerships later this year. µ
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"...using two Android smartphones."
incorrect. They used a single phone for the demo.
"In the future you won't forget anything because computers will be on hand to remember everything,"
So... will computers remember how I felt about that girl, the simple pleasure of exercise, the smell of a summer rain storm, or the taste of an exotic meal ?