Skype Translator Preview's First Phase Brings Spanish And English

Skype has been working on its Translator service for a long while now, something that allows individuals to video chat in two different languages with real-time translations. The company revealed preview plans recently, and now it has introduced the first phase of that preview program: Spanish and English translation, as well as more than 40 instant messaging languages. Those interested must be signed up for the Skype Translator preview, and must be running Windows 8.1.

Skype Translator is simple to use — those with the preview can, for now, talk in Spanish and English, where each speaker will receive both a written and an auditory translation. It takes a moment for the translation to appear, but it seems to hit a pretty high accuracy level. To show off the new tool, Skype tapped a couple of elementary schools.

Students at Stafford Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington and Peterson School in Mexico City played a game dubbed "Mystery Skype", where the groups asked each other a series of questions in Spanish and English. You can watch the preview in action in the video above, which provides a solid look at the translation process.

Says Skype, the translation services becomes smarter the more it is used, and so as more people start using the preview Skype Translator's quality will improve. Ultimately, Skype seeks to translate as many languages as it can, and to provide the service on many different platforms.

SOURCE: Skype Blog