If you’re travelling overseas, there’s a good chance you may encounter a bit of a language barrier at some point. Thankfully, you can bust that communication breakdown with the Free iTranslate app. More »
Technology does so much to bring us together, it’d be a shame to let language keep us apart. VoxOx has overcome that hurdle, though, with a free real-time translation tool that lets you chat seamlessly in dozens of tongues. More »
What is your dog trying to say when he’s barking at bicyclists riding by your window? If only we spoke Japanese, we’d know. More »
A British scientist is working on a device to represent dolphin communication as a sort of hieroglyph, but we can save him the suspense: They’re just thanking us for all the fish.
The Sign Language Translator’s name may be a tad misleading (it doesn’t actually translate anything), but as a pocket ASL video dictionary, it’s a neat enough idea.
There’s not a lot of information about this invention from Ramin Sedighi of Iran, except that it’s a device with an electronic pen that scans words of a book and says them aloud. The news clip says that the device will teach languages to children ages 4 to 16, and that it can also “explain” pictures. Here’s the mystery catch though: the reader has 512MB of memory “for storing 15 books.” If it needs to store the books in advance, it can’t just read any book, only those pre-programmed in. Which means it may be no more advanced than a LeapFrog educational toy. It’s as big as a 13-inch laptop, too, and yet we’re strangely intrigued. [Iranian Students News Agency via Raw Feed]
• Adobe’s Flash Player 9 now supports the H.264 video codec. Expect more HD Flash video and greater iPhone compatibility as a result. [TUAW] • Hulu began streaming in HD today, coinciding with Adobe’s Flash update. Cold comfort if you ask me, since there are no TV shows left anyway. [Crave] • R2-D2 Translator turns your typed words into the little droid’s language. Be careful not to break the space-time continuum by asking it to translate “beep boop beep.” [R2D2 Translator] • Altec Lansing’s M604 Zune dock is on Woot for a measly $US45, more than $160 off the retail price. Line-in and video-out make this compatible with other players too, so it sounds like a sweet deal. [Woot] More »
