Translation app starts to prove itself

New York

THE tech industry is doing its best to topple the Tower of Babel.

Last month, Skype, Microsoft's video calling service, initiated simultaneous translation between English and Spanish speakers. Not to be outdone, Google will soon announce updates to its translation app for phones.

Google Translate now has written translation of 90 languages and the ability to hear spoken translations of a few popular languages. In the update, the app will automatically recognise if someone is speaking a popular language and automatically turn it into written text.

Certainly, the technology of translating one tongue into another can still be downright terrible. The service also requires a headset and works best if a speaker paused to hear what the other person had said. But those …