InternetJaJah Service Translates Languages Via Phone (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - Your cell phone might become your personal translator if one of the new services from Internet telephone company JaJah catches on -- a free, real-time, machine translation service.

Your cell phone might become your personal translator if one of the new services from Internet telephone company JaJah catches on -- a free, real-time, machine translation service. The JaJah Babel service, offered in conjunction with IBM, is initially intended to translate between Mandarin and English, just in time for the Summer Olympics. The first Olympic team to have the service is the small contingent from Ireland, home of JaJah CEO Trevor Healey. The companies say they expect to offer other languages later this year, and eventually to charge for the service. Order Dinner in Chinese The service allows a user in China to call a local number from any phone, speak in English, and hear the words returned in Chinese Mandarin. Similarly, a Chinese speaker can have a statement translated into English. Babel also works with local access numbers in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Australia. With this service, for instance, a user could order dinner in Chinese by speaking into the phone, then handing the phone to the waiter or putting it on speakerphone. Offering, testing, and monetizing new, free services are a key part of JaJah's business model. "We offer customer alpha and beta products to help us determine how to monetize services," Healey told news media, adding that, once proven, the technologies move into partnerships with telephony companies. In addition... [ Read more on www.yahoo.com ]

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