SpeechTrans Updates SpeechTrans Ultimate for Windows 8.1
SpeechTrans, a provider of translation technology, has updated its SpeechTrans Ultimate app for Microsoft Windows 8.1, offering real-time text and voice translation over Facebook, Google Talk, Yahoo!, and AIM.
Only one person in a conversation needs SpeechTrans Ultimate since the app can translate outgoing messages before they are delivered and translate incoming messages before they are received.
The app, which was developed "hand-in-hand" with Microsoft, according to Yan Auerbach, co-founder and chief operations officer at SpeechTrans, can support up to 44 languages. It relies on speech recognition technology from Nuance Communications and other technologies from several other vendors, as well as technologies developed in house by SpeechTrans and its development partners.
In addition to the social networking translation, SpeechTrans has added several other features to SpeechTrans Ultimate for Windows 8.1. They include the following:
- SpeechTrans Chat, which offers real-time translation during instant messaging.
- Dictation and Cloud Storage: SpeechTrans Ultimate now allows Windows 8.1 users to dictate notes, reminders, email and text messages, and more. SpeechTrans Ultimate securely saves previous dictations and translations in the cloud for retrieval from any Web-enabled device.
- Wearable SpeechTrans Bluetooth Wristband Watch: Users can now make and receive phone calls and translate conversations in real time using the new SpeechTrans Bluetooth Wristband Watch. The wristband vibrates if users walk 30 feet away from their devices, ensuring they won't forget or lose their phones. While the wristband is ideal for answering calls in the car, it can also play music and features an audio jack iso users can keep conversations private or listen to music with regular headphones. The SpeechTrans Bluetooth Wristband Watch is compatible with all smartphones, PCs, and tablets with Bluetooth capabilities. It offers three hours of talk time, 60 hours of standby time, an LED caller ID display with contact list synchronization, noise-cancelling microphone, and speakerphone.
SpeechTrans last week also launched a speech-to-text app for the hearing impaired that converts the audio to text and displays the content on screen. That app was also developed with Microsoft.
The New Jersey-based startup has also worked with Intel and recently launched a real-time translation app for HP's MyRoom conferencing app, according to Auerbach. It is also a Microsoft Managed Partner.
Altogether, SpeechTrans offers translations of speech-to-speech, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and text-to-text,. The company has 20,000 translators standing by to guarantee the accuracy of its translations, Auerbach says.
"SpeechTrans Ultimate is a communication 'Swiss-Army knife' for global travelers, students, and businesspeople," said John Frei, CEO of SpeechTrans, in a statement. "The app is quickly becoming the new lingua franca, and we're proud to bring an improved version to Windows 8.1 users."
"Our vision is that at some point in the near future every device will have some sort of translation app," Auerbach says, "and our goal is that it will be with SpeechTrans."
To help increase use of its software, Auerbach says SpeechTrans is reworking its pricing structure by getting rid of per-translation fees. "We are focusing on consolidating all of our products under one monthly subscription fee that gives unlimited access to all of our apps," he says.