birding-aus

Trippo VoiceMagix

To: Birding-Aus Aus <>
Subject: Trippo VoiceMagix
From: Carl Clifford <>
Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 12:27:56 +1100
Dear all,

I noticed in todays Sydney Morning Herald's :Summer" supplement today an item about an Iphone/pad/pod touch app called Trippo VoiceMagix. It is not, despite the name, meant to induce auditory hallucinations, but a translation app. With it you can type or speak into it what you would like translated and it translates onto the screen and also speaks the translation. It supports 27 languages, including Pashto for those who fancy a spot of birding in Afghanistan. The app is a little light on Asian language, but it does include Hindi, simplified and traditional Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Urdu. The producers aim to add more languages over time.

The reviewer in the SMH claims that the translations are pretty good, though the grammar is not exact at times. The reviewer tried it out on speakers of Chinese, French, German,, Hebrew, Hindi and Urdu, and all said that the translations as "surprisingly good". The translations were not as exact on less conventional subjects. The reviewer tried "I believe I mmight have consumed an unhealthy amount of alcohol. Is there a toilet within spewing distance?" translated as the equivalent of "I believe that might've can send an unhealthy amount of alcohol is your toilet with Thanksgiving?' I think most birders would not require such a translation.

I have put my USD 5.99 down and I will try it out. I might start with my local chicken shop (Greek) and Thai take-away owners. I will report back with my experiences with the app. I will be in Thailand and Malaysia in the New Year, so I will be able to field test the app. I hope it is good with Thai, as I am not real hot on tonal languages. Also it is a pity it does not have Khmer, as I am going to Cambodis. It would be nice to be able to quickly ask questions such as "are there any land-mines in this forest?

Cheers,

Carl Clifford
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