NEC develops Japanese-English translation software for cell phones

Damian Koh | Dec 03, 2007

Be prepared to enter into a monolog with NEC's Japanese-to-English translation software for cell phones. Why? Because it's capable of translating only verbal Japanese to English text, and not the other way round. What this basically means is if you are a Japanese tourist in an English-speaking country, chances are you won't be able to understand the answer to your question even if a local managed to decipher what you are asking from your phone's screen. Sounds silly to us, but we have to give credit to NEC for solving half the equation of chicken-and-duck talk. Now we just need the company to "realize a society in which anybody can communicate with anyone else anywhere anytime", says NEC spokesman Mitsumasa Fukumoto.

Via Yahoo News
Pictured is the NEC Simpure N1

Filed under: Mobile Phones
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