The granodiorite slab announcing the kingly reign of Ptolemy V in Egypt circa 196 BC, better known as the Rosetta Stone, might be considered an early stab at the idea. The concept of a universal translator has long been a fixture of science fiction, not to mention a dream of inventors and linguists since long before computers existed. Researchers working on automatic translation technology like this are familiar with this blend of hope and anxiety. “I’m thinking, ‘Get out of here!’” Pall recalls, laughing. Pall, on the other hand, was flustered as his jitters about the room metastasized to two presenters who were whispering to one another nearby throughout the demonstration. The audience murmured in astonishment, but the program didn’t falter as it shot back a translation from German to English. Roughly a second after Pall Spoke, subtitles in German and English appeared at the bottom of the screen, and a synthetic Siri-like voice read the words aloud to the German caller. An audience of several hundred reporters and industry insiders watched on as Pall and a native German speaker held a nearly flawless conversation through the company’s prototype of Skype Translator. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. The back end of the system is powered by Bing Translator, which can handle voice input in seven different languages, but they may not all be supported by Skype for Business when the translation feature launches.For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered.

Microsoft hasn't set an official release date for the feature, and the company hasn't yet said which input languages are available. The feature may also be a boon to hearing-impaired users, who will now be able to get live captions from feeds that are sent over Skype Meeting Broadcast. This feature is a pared-down version of what Translator does - Meeting Broadcast is built for situations where only one person is speaking at a time, without cross-talk - but it has serious implications for business users who want to reach an international audience. Last year, Skype introduced Translator to consumers, which handles live, person-to-person transcriptions in calls and text messages. Microsoft faces stiff competition in that arena both from established players and upstarts like Slack and Hipchat. It comes at a time when the company is pushing hard to get Skype for Business in use at as many companies as possible. The launch brings a feature to Skype for Business that's based on technology previously used in the consumer version of Skype.

What is skype translator