Google says forget learning languages - we'll translate for you

16 February 2010 17:23 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Google has hinted at a future where we never have to learn another language again.

In his keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Google CEO Eric Schmidt, outlined a possible future that using the company's current voice search technology users could have a conversation with someone else in another language with the software automatically translating on the fly.

Google search works by sending voice packets to a central server that then analyses the words before sending back the translation.

Schmidt believes that with mobile networks and mobile phones getting faster the technology could be possible.

"We aren't quite there but it's coming", said the Google CEO.

In the meantime, Google has on Tuesday announced a new mobile search solution that allows you to take a picture of foreign text and have it automatically translated on the fly with the results being sent back to your phone.

The news comes shortly after Google suggested that its Language translation abilities could be a selling point for future versions of the Android mobile phone operating system, or a dedicated "Babel Fish" phone.

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Software, Phones, Mobile phones, Android, MWC2010, Google, Search engines