Japan’s largest mobile carrier is about to launch the world's first commercial service for language translation of conversations and signs between Japanese and other languages.

Earlier this year in June we reported that NTT DOCOMO was conducting a trial for its experimental cloud-based service for real-time language interpretation between Japanese and other languages via mobile devices.

Now the leading Japanese mobile telephone service provider has announced that on November 1, it will launch the world's first commercial mobile service for automatic language translation of conversations between Japanese speakers and those speaking several other languages.

The new service, called Hanashite Hony'aku (automatic voice translation service), will translate between Japanese and Chinese, English or Korean. Translations are provided both as screen text and voice readouts. Additional languages such as French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai will added as November progresses.

Here’s how it works. The subscriber simply dials the other party using an Android app for smartphones and tablets running Android 2.2 or higher. Calls can be placed to any mobile or landline phone, either in Japan or overseas.

Earlier this month NTT DOCOMO launched another application called Utsushite Hon'yaku (AR translator with word recognition camera), which translates foreign menus and signage by simply placing a smartphone camera in front of text.

So what’s your take? Do you believe that technologies like these will one day replace the human translator or interpreter? Is machine translation (otherwise known as automatic or automated translation) the wave of the future? Please post a comment and let us know what you think.

By Alex Dupont
Marketing Communications Specialist
Language Translation Inc.

See Also

• Machine translation is also known as automated or automatic language translation
  Raw machine translation may only be sufficient for communicating via social networks and video sharing sites, or for getting the gist of a foreign language website.
• There are new mobile technologies that can provide automated language interpretation
  Language Interpreting is the process of translating spoken words from one language into another.
• NTT DOCOMO to Introduce Mobile Translation of Conversations and Signage. The press release.
  NTT DOCOMO, INC. today announced that on November 1 it will launch the world?s first commercial mobile service for translation of conversations between people speaking Japanese and other languages.
• More about NTT DOCOMO
  NTT DOCOMO is Japan's premier provider of leading-edge mobile voice, data and multimedia services.