Microsoft launches Skype Translator
03 Oct 2015
With the launch of Skype Translator, users would be able to converse in a foreign language.
As on the date of the launch Skype Translator supports English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Mandarin.
The tool, which comes as part of the desktop Skype client update, can be activated with a simple on-off button.
To get started, users would need to download Skype for Desktop with Translator and make sure that their audio and headset settings were properly configured.
Users could then choose a contact to call, click or tap on a globe icon and select the languages that the user and the other person spoke.
According to Skype, ''early users of the preview have helped it improve tremendously'' already, and now that it was available on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10, the company expected to open up a whole new world of possibilities across not only distances but also languages.
The feature still had a ''Preview'' status, despite the global roll-out.
According to commentators, though Skype Translator worked, it would not be absolutely accurate until millions were submitting translation data every day.
When users get the update, they would see a globe icon in the top right of the Skype window.
Clicking on it turned Translator, letting users see real time translations of text and speech.
Verbal messages are translated in audio, while there would also be subtitles.
According to Skype, the tool would get more accurate over time with more people using it.
Director of Product Management, Lee Ott, said that the tool was still in its early days. ''Now it's ready for a much broader audience, so we're going to take it out to the world, and that in turn will increase its accuracy very quickly," irishexaminer.com reported.
Skype Translator was currently available only on desktop and there was no release date for Mac or mobile just yet. However, a mobile release, would be expected at least, sooner rather than later.
