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Sony Unveils PSP Translator

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the essential-survival-toold-for-tokyo dept.

jonerik writes "Sony has released software for its popular PSP handheld gaming device called TalkMan. In development for some time now, the program currently stores about 3,000 conversation patterns in English, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. 'A user may speak the words "Koko-wa-dokodesuka?" (Where is this?) in Japanese, for example, into the device's microphone, upon which a cartoon bird acting as an interpreter will pop up and start talking in the user's language. The bird is also able to translate the reply into Japanese.' A European release for TalkMan is expected in the spring."

4 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Paperclip? by XMilkProject · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is actually really slick. I hate to support Sony nowadays, but this is exactly the sort of utility that will make hardware like the PSP more useful to people. Hopefully in the near future all our PDA's and Cellphones will be able to translate live as we talk.

    I hope theres an option to have a talking Paperclip though, I'd feel more at home with that. <sarcasm/>

    Let me know when its in a device that will fit in my ear :)

    --
    Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
    Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...
  2. no wonder it understands twice as much japanese by dhardisty · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "The technology is said to be able to translate some 50,000 Japanese words and 25,000 English words." I'm not surprised this thing was invented in japan -- since japanese only has 5 basic vowel sounds and no consonant clusters, it must be easier for the software to encode. That, and it makes sense to support the language of the people you are marketing it to.

  3. Old News Indeed: D-D-D-Double Dupe! by Valdrax · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This has been covered twice on Slashdot already. Twice.

    July 12th, 2004
    November 26th, 2005

    As for decent games: All I ask for is an RPG! A nice RPG!

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    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  4. Re:And if you speak the words... by Golias · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To be fair, you, the guy you were correcting, and everybody else in this thread are probably better at translating Japanese than the PSP is likely to be.

    A quick look Google's Japan/English tool (beta, of course... this is Google, after all) will confirm that translating correctly between Japanese and English with software is damn near impossible with current technology and programming logic.

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.