IBM today announced language translation software for handheld computers that includes interfaces for both text and speech.
The ViaVoice Translator, which runs on Microsoft Corp.s Pocket PC platform, translates English to French, Italian, German and Spanish, and vice versa.
Users enter phrases as text and can choose to have the translation returned to them either as text or read out as speech, according to officials at IBM, who unveiled the software at the DemoMobile trade show in La Jolla, Calif.
The application is a memory hog; IBM recommends 128MB of additional memory to load all the languages, 64MB for just the German, or 32MB for the other languages.
The ViaVoice Translator works with Hewlett Packard Co.s Compaq iPAQ models H3600, H3700, H3800 and H3900. The software package is available online at ibm.com as well as several retail outlets for $49.99.
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