Google Inc (GOOG)’s New Translation Service Is An Emerging Market Play: Mark Spoonauer

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s rumored new translation service is in part targeting users in emerging markets, Mark Spoonauer said in a discussion on CNBC.

The comment from the Editor in Chief of Tom’s Guide and Laptop Mag comes as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is reported to be on the verge of launching an update to its translation application for mobile phones which will improve its real-time translation capabilities.

The service is deemed as a reaction to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) debuting a real-time translator for its Skype communication service.

“When you think about it, [mobile phones are] how millions and millions of people are getting online for the first time, especially in the developing world. That’s where services like this is going to be most useful,” Spoonauer said.

Furthermore, he noted that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has about 500 million people who actively use its translation service. The Google Translate application is installed on over 100 million Android phones, he said. This, he said, even though rarely discussed in the press, makes translation an important service for the web giant.

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According to the Tom’s Guide and Laptop Mag Editor in Chief, details for the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) translation service update are scarce but the idea is that the update will enable the app to automatically detect when its user is speaking and then translating that speech into a pre-selected language. Spoonauer noted that Google is yet to divulge which languages the new update will support.

Spoonauer added that the internet search and advertising giant is in a sense catching up to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with its real-time translation tool. Microsoft, during its demonstrations for the real-time translation tool it recently released said that they have had a decades-long history of researching translation and speech recognition. He said that based on reviews, the new Skype tool is off to a good start with between 85% to 90% accuracy.

By the end of September 2014, William Von Mueffling’s Cantillon Capital Management owned 402,346 Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Class C shares.