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Developing a mobile app? Plan ahead for translation
May 18th
By Heather Clancy, SmartPlanet
There is a veritable frenzy of mobile application development underway as businesses look to extend their identities and services to smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices.
But any company hoping to win over an international audience can make that job significantly easier by planning ahead for the translation process, said Matt Hauser, vice president of technology sales for TransPerfect, which develops linguistics and translation technologies.
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Duluth’s Phrazer Maker Sees Room For Device And Human Interpreters
May 15th
A Duluth-based company’s multilingual medical device won’t necessarily put human interpreters out of business, its inventor says.
“Our device is all about providing extreme accuracy and very timely service,” said Mat Johnson, founder and CEO of GeaCom Inc., which produces a device called the Phrazer out of the seventh floor of the Dewitt-Seitz building in Canal Park. “I could see the Phrazer and interpreters working together.”
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Google Goes Ga-Ga For Africa
May 11th
Google casts its web across the continent. Any complaints?
Africa is developing even faster than the new highways of offline Africa. Undersea cables reaching Africa on the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts, plus innovative mobile-phone providers, have raised internet speeds and slashed prices. In some African markets you can buy a daily dose of internet on a mobile phone for about the cost of a banana (ie, less than ten American cents). This burgeoning connectivity is making Africa faster, cleverer and more transparent in almost everything that it does.
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How Can Small Businesses Compete Globally?
May 9th
Business is not what it used to be.
While in the past it may have been acceptable practice for a small or medium-sized business to cater only to its native language market, it is no longer the case. From the onset, small businesses are already at a disadvantage. Whether the company relies on boot-strapping or bank loans to cover expenses, resources are extremely limited, and profits may not even be seen for years. Add on top of that a bad economy, an over-crowded marketplace, difficulty in finding local clients, rising interest and tax rates, etc., and it seems like there is no way a small business can succeed.
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Google Translate To Include Kyrgyz
May 4th
The online Google Translate service will begin translating to and from Kyrgyz this fall, Ene Til (Mother Tongue) Project manager Atai Zhunushov said May 2.
“We’ve finished the first phase of the project, in which we sent Google managers 1.2m words,” he said. “But that isn’t enough for Google Translate to translate Kyrgyz. Google managers recommended we build up the Kyrgyz-language content in Wikipedia.”
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Pinterest Is Crowdsourcing The Site’s Translation
May 3rd
Starting off with Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Portuguese
By Josh Wolford
Pinterest wants to translate their site into other languages and they are seeking translators to assist them.
Here’s what they had to say in a blog post:
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Ackuna Translation App Takes Off
May 3rd
Ackuna, the free translation crowdsource application has recently started to pick up momentum amongst the tech community. Ackuna launched just a few weeks ago, and already it is generating buzz with articles featured in Mashable, Solid Gadgets and TPNTech.
Many people who have tried Ackuna have given it rave reviews as a viable alternative to machine translators such as Yahoo Babelfish or Google Translate.
Fun With Google Translate
May 1st
Google is known for its “Easter Eggs“; secret or hidden images that appear if you type a certain phrase in the search bar.
Google Translate is no different. Although some of the ones below may or may not be intended, they can still provide some fun the next time you are bored and tired of Google-ing yourself.
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New Native Language App Starts Small, With Animal Names in Four Tongues
May 1st
A new American Indian language app hit the iTunes store January 20 that features translations of animal names from English to Diné, Lakota, Mvskoke and Ponca. The menu screen offers a choice of four languages. Once a language is chosen, a short list of animals appears from which to choose. Clicking on the animal produces a photo of the animal, the English and Native language word for that animal and a button that allows the user to hear the word pronounced in the Native language.
But some users have responded negatively on iTunes reviews. One commentator, spec24, wrote on February 3: “14 animals and that’s your app? Come on, do these languages some justice.” There are 14 animals represented in the app in the Lakota language; 18 for Mvskoke, 19 for Ponca and 20 for Diné.
Madras Hospital Goes High-Tech to Communicate
May 1st
Mountain View Patients, Staff Benefit From New System
The staff at Mountain View Hospital in Madras has struggled for years with language barriers. They’ve now found a high-tech solution. It’s called a Video Remote Interpreter System and it works a lot like video programs like Skype.
Interpreters are not new to the hospital. For years, local interpreters volunteered their time, in person and over the phone. They donated countless hours of their time — but they weren’t available all the time.
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