iTranslate Voice 2 gives everyone a chance to talk.
I’ve always been a fan of the Olympic Games – summer and winter. This year I was more intrigued than usual about the joining of nations and the brotherhood and sisterhood among the athletes. Even though they are in fierce competition, I saw athletes rejoice in others’ triumphs even if it meant they lost. There were no language barriers to overcome – only joy to experience. Even though those Olympic moments transcended language, there were 88 countries and more than 2,800 athletes, not to mention support staff, that traveled to a place that was foreign to them. When Olympic moments weren’t available to break down those language barriers, iTranslate Voice 2 was there.
iTranslate Voice 2 is a voice-to-voice translator for iOS devices. It includes:
- access to 42 languages
- definitions and translations for common words & phrases
- easy-to-send translations – Email, SMS, Twitter or Facebook
- universal between iPhone and iPad
- support for iOS 7 offline voices
I am very impressed by how well iTranslate recognizes my voice and by how well it translates. I do have some experience with the French language, but I’m not fluent in it. I can read it well enough, but when it comes to speaking, I don’t remember enough of the words and phrases by memory to be able to carry on a conversation.
I was able to see that the phrases I spoke in English were correctly understood and translated into French. Unfortunately, when I tried a few words and phrases in French, it wasn’t as good as it was when I spoke English. Like I said, speaking French in not one of my strengths.
iTranslate Voice 2 is very easy to use. Its interface is similar to using Siri in that you tap a spot on the screen to notify the app to listen. Once you are done speaking, iTranslate Voice 2 recognizes the end of your speech and shows your initial phrase and then the translated phrase directly under it. From here, you can select the text bubble to share the phrase by SMS, Email, Twitter or Facebook. Switching back and forth between languages is also very easy. You simply tap the first circle, which is the input language, and then tap the language you want it to be. The same process goes for the output language.
One very cool feature of this app is AirTranslate. AirTranslate looks for devices with iTranslate Voice 2 enabled and then allows people to use their iOS devices as a personal translator. Person A can speak a phrase into their iOS device and the translation appears for Person B on their iOS device.
As voice recognition software becomes more and more accurate, apps like this can truly help bridge the gap between different nationalities and cultures simply by helping people communicate. iTranslate is $1.99 and can be downloaded from iTunes.
