Google Inc (GOOGL) To Launch Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Real-Time Translator Rival

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is set to launch a rival to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s real-time translator for Skype, The New York Times’ Quentin Hardy said in a report.

The news comes after Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) debuted the real-time translation feature for Skype users around the world. Skype is now a division of the Windows maker after an acquisition worth $8.5 billion. Using the nascent technology, speakers of different languages can converse as the feature translate spoken word and displays the translated transcript using the language the other person is speaking.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), according to Hardy, will include essentially the same feature in an update to its translation application. The internet giant currently has a translation app but it is still just primarily used to translate written text. It can also translate spoken words but Hardy makes it sound like the update will be improve this capability of the application.

“Google Translate now offers written translation of 90 languages and the ability to hear spoken translations of a few popular languages. In the update, the app will automatically recognize if someone is speaking a popular language and automatically turn it into written text,” Hardy writes.

Apart from the update which seems to rival Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s new service, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) may also be launching a service to translate photos.

“Google will also soon announce a service that enables you to hold your phone up to a foreign street sign and create an automatic translation on the screen,” Hardy added.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is not just the tech giant that’s very interested in translation, the New York Times’ Hardy said. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is also said to be ready to jump in the fray. He noted that the social media giant, has enlisted thousands of people on a waiting list for the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Skype real-time simultaneous translation. Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is also noted to use Microsoft’s translation technologies.

Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management owned 790,560 Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Class A shares by the end of the third quarter of 2014. Also by the end of that period, Eagle Capital Management also owned a substantial 32.86 million Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares.