New Talking Phrase Translator in 5 Languages

Franklin Electronic Publishers and Mobile Digial Media have teamed to bring a comprehensive cross platform speaking translator card to MMC. Audio Translator, runs on a MultiMediaCard that can be used on any mobile device with a SD/MMC slot.

This "plug-and-play" multimedia data card can translate over 40,000 words and 5,000-phrases bi-directionally from and to English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. For mobile devices with audio capabilities, the translator will also "speak" words and phrases, helping users more easily learn correct pronunciations of the words in any of the five languages.

According to Barry Cottle, CEO of MDM, Franklin's success in the European communities with its own line of translators helped fuel the decision to publish the five-language translator in the U.S. and abroad. "With nearly one in five Americans speaking a language other than English at home, we feel there is a large market for easy-to-use five-way, bi-directional language translation," said Cottle.

Palm OS Audio TranslatorMDM's five-Language MMC card with Franklin translator technology is available now at goMDM.com and in select worldwide retail locations. It has a MSRP of $39.95.

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Can we say killer palm travel app?

robman @ 1/30/2004 10:27:18 AM #
This little device could be incredible---and you know it's only the beginning. 40,000 words + 5,000 phrases with audio support in five languages for $39.95. That means it can't be much bigger than a 64MB card (or the price would be much higher). Which means you could get potentially get eight times as many words and phrases on a 512MB card--or support for 40 different languages.

This is a great offering that will serve PalmOne well.

Palm Enthusiast since 1998

RE: Can we say killer palm travel app?
hkklife @ 1/30/2004 11:11:41 AM #
I know the capacities are still not up to par but remember that Rand McNally Road Atlas MMC from two years or so ago? Wow! The jump from that title to this audio translator has been amazing. I'd love to see a revised roadmap card on a larger card-IIRC the original Road Atlas was on a 16mb MMC and low-res! 64mb or better would substantially improve everything and shouldn't be too terribly costly. I know you can buy a 256mb SD and put your TomTom or Mapopolis cards on it but it's nice for newbies and if you are traveling, stuck in an airport where they have one of those mini Staples and you are looking for something to buy and kill time with ;-)

That's how I've ended up with most of my MMC software titles, btw (impulse retail purchases when traveling).

Translate this:
Hal2000 @ 1/30/2004 3:41:49 PM #
Wow.

Zodiac2/T616

Mini Review & Initial Thoughts

hkklife @ 1/30/2004 10:57:15 AM #
I just picked this up two days ago at CompUSA. All I can say is: WOW!

First of all, it's a vast improvement over the old PalmPak translator card I had. It uses the standard Franklin Reader thingie all of the other MDM reference titles use (the Brittanica card & the Dictionary card) but it's nicely improved-none of the G2 bugs the Brittanica Encyclopedia had.

A few quickies I've noticed just from playing around with it:

-SUPPORTS T3 320*480 with no problems or hiccups. NICE!

-Adjustable font sizes/styles.

-Navigation within the program is a bit clumsy (I've had trouble changing my languages-say, if I am translating English to German and then want to see what that same phrase is in German to Spanish I have to fumble around to get back to the main screen where it lets you pick your language(s).

-The voice is synthesized but quite good--perhaps on par with the NOAA weather radio voices (if you are a weatherband radio fan like I am) but more pleasant sounding. Sampling rate seems to leave a little to be desired (voices sound kinda scratchy) but pronounciation is top-notch in all of the languages & terms I've been able to recognize personally (I speak some German).

-Different voices for each language. For example, it's a slightly gruff sounding lady(?) style synthesized voice that does English but a far more pleasant female-style voice that does Italian. The German and French voices are also pretty decent too.

-Volume is also good but of course depends on how you've configured your Palm prefs. I tested the card on my father's Zire 71 and it DID lock up 2x in his unit (but worked after a reset) so Z71 users be warned...Works like a charm on my T|T3 and T|C.

-Loading of audio files is also quite speedy, at least on the above units. On anything less than a Tungsten/OS5 Palm, it'd be a total waste since audio output would not be supported.

-A pleasant surprise was the variety of the canned phrases they had in there. Stuff like "Where is the nearest disco?" (always a riot to bust that one on some unsuspecting European natives!) up to fairly elaborate things like "Is this normal behavior in this country" or "I do not feel well. Can you please direct me to a doctor" which sounds substantially better than "I am sick. Where is the doctor?" especially if you are like me and halfway fluent in another language but not totally at ease with stringing together multiple sentences.

-Card size is...32mb (I *think*) but I may have been wrong.

I have played with the card regretably very little since purchasing it but I can chime in here if anyone has any more questions as I spend more time with the title. It's definitely the best Palm/MDM title released so far (Brittanica is a close 2nd though) and an absolute must-have for anyone who travels or has foreign friends/family and would rather not cram a Babel fish down their ear canal ;-)



RE: Mini Review & Initial Thoughts
radleyp @ 1/30/2004 11:41:29 AM #
BDicty has had talking dictionaries for some time, and for many other languages (Russian and Japanese, for example). I think they are excellent: they sit, with many other apps and data, on my 256Meg card. I never go for apps on a separate card, since that means I must carry cards with me, and also that I do not have access to whatever is on the card that is not in the unit. Philippe Radley

RE: Mini Review & Initial Thoughts
Gar @ 2/2/2004 7:36:27 AM #
Could you move the files off the card to the computer and then onto a Memory Stick to use in a Clie device?

-----------------
My wife has to sell a lot of candles (www.ccandles.com) to buy her new Palm.
RE: Mini Review & Initial Thoughts
hkklife @ 2/2/2004 9:36:45 AM #
Nope, they permanently reside on the MMC.

I double-checked and the Translator is a 32mb MMMC.

It also supports landscape and portrait screen rotations, with the slider open or closed.



RE: Mini Review & Initial Thoughts
radleyp @ 2/2/2004 10:47:50 AM #
Gar: you can put BDicty's lexicons on a memory stick (I know since I switched from a Sony615C to a Palm T3 about three months ago, and took the lexicons with me). Philippe Radley

Just how loud is the volume?
ljgagnon @ 3/27/2004 6:47:24 PM #
I am trying out the BDicty Talking English-Spanish Dictionary Phrasebook 1.7, and even when I set all the volume levels to max on my Tungsten C, the volume is still pretty low to hear the pronunciations, except in a very quiet environment.

I am considering the MDM Audio Translator as an option. Do you find the volume to be loud enough? I notice that the "Game" volume is the one that affects the BDicty. Is the MDM Translator affected the same way?

Thanks


Wait for PalmSource...

mclove @ 1/30/2004 12:22:05 PM #
... we'll be announcing something there that works on Sony's and non-SD devices and covers almost 5 times as many languages (though no audio yet)

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