Google working on mobile phone translation software

Google is working on a tool that could turn mobile phones into an instant translation device, it has been reported.

The Times has reported that the software would use voice recognition and automatic translation – which Google already does for text – to carry out the task.

Speaking to the newspaper, Franz Och, Google’s head of translation services, said that although the technology was a few years off, recent advances in voice recognition made it entirely feasible.

"Everyone has a different voice, accent and pitch. But recognition should be effective with mobile phones because by nature they are personal to you.

"The phone should get a feel for your voice from past voice search queries, for example."

Google has entered the phone market this with its own handset – the Nexus One – although it already provided the Android operating platform to a number of manufacturers.

A report by research group Strategy Analytics recently found that Facebook and Google were the services that mobile broadband users most wanted to access while on the go.

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