I wonder: was this by chance (also) demonstrated at the MT Summit in Singapore last week? Sep 21, 1999, (Comline via COMTEX) -- Software for consumers to turn their laptop computers into language interpreters will come out in FY 2000 from NEC. The software will translate between Japanese and English. The user speaks into a microphone attached to the computer, which has a speech recognition program to capture the words and convert them almost instantly into English, which comes out over the laptop's speaker. The program works similarly in the opposite direction. The test version exhibited by NEC on September 21 contains 50,000 words and plenty of the type of expressions users would require in hotel and restaurant situations. NEC characterizes the resulting translations as natural and approaching practicality. Before marketing the system, it plans to improve precision and make the tool more useful for travel abroad. Beyond that, NEC seeks to create portable translators and cell phones with a translation function. Copyright 1999, Comline News Service -- Colin Brace <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Amsterdam http://www.lim.nl
