Skype will start talking in different languages

The CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella showed the new Skype function – the translator


By the end of the year Microsoft will let out a messenger beta which will translate the speech from one language on another.

The general director of Microsoft Satya Nadella showed at the Code conference in California the new Skype function – the translator. Thanks to it Skype will be able to use people who speak different languages. The program will translate on the fly the speech of users: after the user, for example, finishes the offer on Chinese, Skype repeats it in English, as the ordinary translator. On presentation the translator of Skype showed the translation from English into German – with a small pause.

The beta of the translator will appear on devices under Windows 8 by the end of this year. Microsoft counts that in 2-2,5 this function will appear on all devices. According to the vice-president of Microsoft and the head of Skype Gurdip Poll, the translator of Skype opens new opportunities in the most different areas: education, diplomacy, business, etc.

Microsoft works on simultaneous machine translation of oral speech more than 10 years. Two years ago the company for the first time showed the achievements in this area. Nadella recognizes, as now the translator of Skype is imperfect, but counts that the product will gradually improve. According to Nadella, Microsoft developed "a deep neural network" which is able to recognize the speech and knows a set of languages.

Microsoft not the only company in the world which works on simultaneous machine translation of oral speech. So, the Japanese mobile network operator NTT Docomo offers service on Japanese-English translation since 2011. Actively experiments in this Google area which, however, while shows only prototypes of such products.

Skype potential

At Skype now more than 300 million active users a month, pass more than 2 billion minutes of conversations a day through this service. Earlier language barrier limited communication, the translator of Skype has to clean this barrier, Poll speaks.



Ksenia Boletskaya
Sheets
 No. 95 of 29.05.14