Live Voice Translation in Skype Might Come to Windows 8 Devices This Year

The language barrier is one of the most common problems encountered even today. Most modern and free translation programs, whether text-to-text, speech-to-speech or even speech-to-text give users a basic tool to understand and slide through the language barrier a bit, from text translation to webpage translations.

Microsoft apparently has been working on a feature for Skype to break through this issue with the help of the Skype Translator application. The company has just released the first beta version of the application, which was also demoed at the Code Conference. A preview of its potential can be viewed in the video below.

Another interesting aspect of this application at hand is its ability to not only translate the language, but also relay it grammatically and syntactically correct, something not quite easy to achieve. The demo displays only its translation powers between English and German, but Microsoft stated it will add more language support later on.

The application might also not be free, given the amount of work and complexity required to achieve such results. What is known about the application is that Microsoft plans to release it by the end of the year and that it will first arrive to Windows 8 devices. Android and Macintosh devices including iOS should receive the application as well, but at a later date.

Thank you Android Police for providing us with this information
Image and video courtesy of Android Police