Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud

    Microsoft’s Translator Tech Begins Its Skype for Windows Rollout

    By
    Pedro Hernandez
    -
    October 1, 2015
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Skype Translator

      Skype Translator, Microsoft’s real-time voice translation technology, is being integrated into the Skype for Windows client, the software giant announced today.

      First unveiled last year during a technology demo and released in December as a preview app, Skype Translator enables users to participate in voice-, video- or text-based conversations with speakers of other languages. Skype Translator is powered by Microsoft’s cloud and machine-learning technology based on the software giant’s neural net research.

      The software employs automatic speech recognition, speech correction, language translation and text-to-speech to generate spoken and/or text translations on the fly. Currently, Skype Translator supports six voice languages, English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin and Spanish. On the messaging front, the technology supports 50 languages.

      In a FAQ, Microsoft boasts that Skype Translator covers “more than 95 percent of the languages that cover more than 95 percent of worldwide gross domestic product (GDP).” Fans of the Star Trek TV shows and feature films can also try their hands at Klingon.

      “Now, you have even more reasons to chat with people around the world—bringing together family, friends, and students,” stated Microsoft in an Oct. 1 announcement. “This opens up a whole new world of possibilities to do even more together across not only distances, but also languages.”

      Starting today, Microsoft is rolling out the new feature as part of an update to the Skype desktop application for Windows. After the update is applied, new Translator icons will appear alongside the familiar voice- and video-calling buttons.

      As more users take the tech for a spin—potentially millions of people, according to Microsoft—the quality of the translations will improve.

      “Built on world-class machine learning technology that gets smarter with usage, Skype Translator preview gets better the more it’s used,” wrote the company’s bloggers. “Already, early users of the preview have helped it improve tremendously, and now with this broader release we are excited to see the additional progress we can make from expanded use.”

      Microsoft isn’t the only IT heavyweight seeking to improve communications between speakers of different languages.

      This summer, Google launched the new Translate Community, which takes a crowdsourced approach to improving Google Translate, the online search company’s online translation service. “Google Translate helps billions of people communicate and learn new languages, but it could always use a little help,” stated Sveta Kelman, the program manager for Google Translate, in a blog post.

      Google’s Translate Community will rely on users’ personal mastery of the languages they use in their day-to-day lives. The aim is to refine the quality of translations provided by the company services, including Search, Docs, YouTube, Maps and Gmail.

      “Luckily, there are a lot of multi-lingual people around the world who have offered to pitch in. We’ve just launched a new Translate Community where language enthusiasts can help us improve translation quality for the 80 languages we support, as well as help us in launching new languages,” Kelman added.

      Pedro Hernandez
      Pedro Hernandez is a contributor to eWEEK and the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Previously, he served as a managing editor for the Internet.com network of IT-related websites and as the Green IT curator for GigaOM Pro.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×