Another "Star Trek" moment

It wasn't just Vocera who took a concept from 'Star Trek' and turned it into a viable product. IBM was showing off its ViaVoice Translator application, a program for the HP iPAQ Pocket PC that translates English text into four different languages, and then reads it back to you in the translated language.

The application includes langauge translation for French, Italian, German and Spanish. The application is bi-directional, which means you can also translate from German back to English. Any method of text input into the Pocket PC can be translated, so you can copy text from a Web site, type it in on the PDA keyboard or even use the handwriting recognition to input the text. IBM has also included about 50 "starter sentences" that you can choose instead of typing it out (phrases like, "Where is the bathroom?" and "Can you take me to the airport?").

The coolest thing about this PDA application, of course, is the text-to-speech translation. With many text translation applications, you can see the translated text but still might not know the correct pronunciation. With the text-to-speech feature enabled, you get to hear the words pronounced, and even practice the phrases beforehand in case you want to try it out yourself. Or you could just hit the speech button and have the iPAQ play the phrase to the person you're talking to.

The software is available now. Single-language packs (French only, for example), cost $19.99. Software for all four languages costs $29.95 via Web download. The full package (with a CD-ROM and user's guide) costs $49.95 and is available at retail. For more information, check out www.ibm.com/software/pervasive.com.
IBM says it will continue to work on adding new languages for translation, as well as porting this to other handheld platforms.

No word yet on the English to Klingon pack.