Skype Translator Now Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Italian - East Idaho News
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Skype Translator Now Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Italian

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ht skype translator kb 150408 16x9 992?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1428514925576Skype(NEW YORK) — Skype Translator has made a huge stride closer to its goal of allowing everyone in the world to be able to converse with each other through technology, regardless of the languages they speak.

Four months after a preview of the project was launched supporting English and Spanish, Microsoft-owned Skype on Wednesday announced it was adding Mandarin and Italian to the list of languages available.

Mandarin has been a long time coming for Skype and is one of the first languages the company tested when it began working on its translator project, according to a blog post.

Steve Clayton, the chief storyteller at Microsoft, told ABC News last year that Skype Translator is one of his “dream” projects.

“My mother-in-law is Chinese. In the 25 years I have known her, we’ve exchanged about six words,” he said.

“My dream feature is to get to speak to my mother-in-law, which some people wouldn’t say is a dream feature,” he quipped. “But for me, it turns out it is a dream feature.”

While Skype Translator is still in preview, people are invited to sign up and put it to the test. The program relies on machine learning, which means the more people use it, the smarter and more precise it will get.

Skype’s long-term goal is even more ambitious. The company plans to “translate as many languages as possible on all relevant platforms” creating what will essentially become a real-life Star Trek-style translator.


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