One of the undeniable focuses of the coming year in the interpretation industry will be voice recognition technologies. The voice-control, voice-assistant revolution is allowing us to talk to objects in our homes and offices. Users began interacting more and more with their machines the same way we interact with each other: by talking. Alexa, Cortana, Einstein, Google, Siri, and Watson are already becoming valuable assistance and practically members of the family to some of us.
But will we go beyond the interaction with machines? Will combining voice recognition with machine translation bring us the long-awaited worldwide communication without borders?
With advances in neural network machine learning and a pool of almost 5 billion smartphone users, computers will be able to understand not just words but also grammar, which will provide a more natural flowing translation and push the use of translation technologies in 2020.
Below are the 8 best mobile translation apps for both Android and iOS.
1. Google Translate
Google Translate is probably the most popular language service. Their typed translation feature supports 103 different languages, 52 of which can continue to work offline (which is perfect for your off-the-grid travel plans). The most interest thing about this app is you can get the translation from the handwriting or any text drawings. Use your camera and take a snapshot for instant translation.
2. Microsoft Translator
Microsoft’s answer to Google Translate has free apps for Windows, iOS, and Android which can translate speech, text, and images (though, no video). Microsoft Translator only supports 60 languages, and not all features are available for all languages, yet it outruns Google in the real-time conversation mode which makes it easier to have natural conversations with foreigners.
3. ITranslate Voice
ITranslate Voice provides instant text-to-speech and voice-to-voice translation on iOS and Android devices. It supports 44 languages and dialects, but not all to the same degree. Yet, according to some reviews, it already features better voice input and output than even Google Translate. One of its features, called AirTranslate, can translate conversation between two people on two iOS devices on the go which makes it worth trying.
4. TripLingo
An app for travelers, TripLingo combines a phrasebook with an instant voice translator, along with other useful travel and language learning tools. It offers instant voice translation in 42 languages, including formal, casual and slang variants for commonly used phrases.
5. SayHi
SayHi offers instant speech-to-speech translation in 90 languages and dialects (including multiple Arabic dialects) for the iPhone and Kindle. The app claims 95% accuracy for voice recognition. Besides, the app offers the possibility to program the voice used to be male or female, and to set up its speed.
Asian Market
With more people relying on speech recognition apps in Asia, the market has seen the boom of instant translation software designed specifically for the region.
6. Baidu Translate
Baidu Translate provides translation service for 16 popular languages. Having 5 million authoritative dictionaries, the app offers real-time speech-to-speech translation and camera translation of multiple languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. For offline translation, Baidu Translate provides authoritative phrasebook packs and offline voice packs of Japanese, Korean and American English. As an additional feature for users travelling to Asian countries or to the USA, the app provides useful expressions for everyday conversation.
7. iFlytek Input
In China, over 500 million people use iFlytek Input to overcome obstacles in multilanguage communications, or to communicate with a speaker of another Chinese dialect. The app was developed by iFlytek, a leading Chinese AI company.
8. Naver Papago
Papago specializes in translation between English, Korean, Simplified Mandarin, Chinese and Japanese. The app can do voice translation to get real-time results, translate conversations, images and text. Some helpful features include offering users to choose two different images to establish the correct context and featuring conversation and offline modes.
There are so many translation apps in the marketplace, but you are the one who has to choose the right tool for yourself. We hope this article will assist you in this regard. Please share your choice with Freelensia and feel free to comment if you have any. Thank you for staying with us and your support is our inspiration.
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