Last December, after debuting the service in May, Microsoft released a preview of Skype Translator, a standalone app available on Windows 8.1 that translates spoken word conversations, initially in Spanish and English, via Skype. Since then, the translator app has added languages (it’s up to 6 now, English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, and Italian, along with 50 messaging languages), and now today, Microsoft is announcing that Skype Translator will no longer require a separate app, and will be rolling out built in support for Translator from within Skype for Windows Desktop.
This means that instead of requiring Windows 8.1, Skype Translator sessions can be initiated from any computer running Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10. And just like the standalone app, only the caller needs to have Skype Translator functionality. If, for example, you initiate a Skype session and enable Translator (with the push of a button), you’ll be able to call anyone using a Skype app, on Android, iPhone, or Mac (of course the quality of service depends on the call quality, more on that in a minute)...
Skype builds Microsoft Translator into Windows desktop app
what a very good ideaSkype builds Microsoft Translator into Windows desktop app
So much for the (Skype) Modern UI
I wonder if can handle English to American
There's no such language as American, it's just what they call badly spoken English
Maybe someday a hundred years from now would be developed a program that can translate Finnish language
Wow, that looks like a HUGE challenge!!
How does anybody know what you are talking about?
A bit like French. The French word for "today" is "hui", but this sounds like "oui". So they tacked on "au jour de ..." giving "on the day of today"
That's one reason for instance Google and Bing Translators don't work well with Finnish and some other languages. Finnish language has a lot of words having a different meaning depending on context which the translators will not understand. I am skeptical about the Skype Translator, let's see if they can make it better than existing translators.Wow, that looks like a HUGE challenge!!
How does anybody know what you are talking about?
Those two words give a good example. "Kuusi" is number six but it's also a tree (spruce or fir), "Palaa" is being on fire but it also means "Return!", or return as in "He / She / They will return". Add the fact that in Finnish we have no masculine "he" and feminine "she", only one word used for both sexes, "hän", so Finnish "Hän palaa" means either that he or she is on fire, or that he or she will return.
As I said, I am somewhat skeptical
Well, I for one am really thankful for this addition. I am planning a trip to Mars and i don't know a bit of Martian, so it will be quite helpful in interacting with the locals.
