Pixel or Pixel 2 & Pixel Buds

[BobHelm]

Google have just launched their new range of phones. Expensive, not as much as Apple, but still going from £629 to £900 for the top of the range is not cheap...
The phone launch would not normally get me bothering to type a note & it doesn't this time - that is one of its' accessories.
That is the wireless headset (put aside another £150) called Google Pixel Buds.
Now that isn't much of a cause for wonder either - Apple & Samsung already have similar.
However, when you combine the phone & the buds you have a device that can translate 40 languages in real time.
So you say your piece in English & the phone broadcasts a Thai (for example) translation immediately. You then hear an English translation of the Thai reply over the headphone..

[Fatone]

funny my $90 el cheapo zte phone with th en translator does that out loud with no headphones

[BobHelm]

What, translates the reply as well???

[Fatone]

translates either way prob a bit more fiddly, have to tell it to translate th to eng or eng to thai

[BobHelm]

I can only suggest that you find one & see how it goes Fatone.
From what I have read about how this performs comparing your $90 el cheapo zte phone to it is a bit like comparing a radio to a smart television!!

[rjj04]

The Babel Fish has arrived?

To think, nobody will ever have to learn a new language again. So, in the future everybody will have a small implant that translates all languages for them instantly. No more sleights of abusive language will be uttered Farang/Thai relations to plunge to new depths.

[neeemu]

Google translate is good for short sentences but often translates things work for word resulting in gobbledegook. It's still a fantastic free service however I wouldn't ever rely on it for anything important.

[Fatone]

or .. you could try a babblefish!

[BobHelm]

Google translate is good for short sentences but often translates things work for word resulting in gobbledegook. It's still a fantastic free service however I wouldn't ever rely on it for anything important.

In September Google released a new system for doing translations - Google Neural Machine Translation system, or GNMT. It does not yet include English - Thai, but that is coming.
It has, immediately, greatly improved translation accuracy especially in languages that have a naturally close base - English, Spanish & French for example.
Here Google say that they are almost as accurate as a human bi-lingual translator.

These claims are not just a bit of company hype designed to attract people to their products but a genuine scientific study..
https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.08144