For all iTravls:
 

Question: "Can I talk into it and get the translation out? Some of your competitors claim they sell a product that can do this. In fact, it's the same model number you have."

Answer: Such a device does not exist. Our sticking to the facts on this issue causes us sometimes to lose sales to a competitor that is selling the same device but is apparently not very familiar with it. Maybe about the time the Enterprise makes its first stop at Planet Vulcan, such functionality will exist in a pocket sized device, and it won't cost more than, say, a median home in Boston.

Just to provide the electric power for the required processor resources means you'd need to haul around a battery that weighs more than your entire family, or you'd need a very, very long extension cord. For a more detailed answer, click here.

Why, then, are there so many claims that such a device exists? Because of a feature called speech recognition. This does allow you to speak into the device and get a translation, but you have to speak an exact phrase that is already in the device. An apple isn't an orange, even if they have some similarities.

An impressive use for speech recognition is in the iTravl Language Teacher program, so let's look at that and then we'll move on to speech recognition and translation.

Speech Recognition in Language Teacher

The iTravl uses speech recognition in very clever, useful ways in its Language Teacher program.

For example, you are in Language Teacher learning words in the other language. It will show you the word and pronounce it. You then pronounce the word yourself. Language Teacher will grade your pronunciation, telling you things like, "Try again,' "Not quite," "Not bad," or "Excellent." You'll see a graphical comparison, as well. Way, way cool.

But that's not all. After you learn a few words, you'll be presented with an image. Above it will be the words you just learned. Now you have to pronounce the word that describes the image. And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg in describing what the iTravl does with speech recognition.

Speech Recognition for Translating

You may have seen a demonstration like the one in this 8-minute video and gotten the impression that the device does "speech to speech" translation. That wasn't the message in that video. What it shows is the ability to look up phrases via voice input.

In short, there is no such thing as a "voice to voice" or "speech to speech" translator on the market. The technology for such a thing in a pocket-sized device that doesn't run on a pair of car batteries or super-long extension cord just doesn't exist.

So, why are people talking into these devices in the videos and live demonstrations? Well, we have sold these devices to police officers, social workers, and others who have taken the time to become familiar with the phrasebook and have a fair idea of what's in it. They can just say the phrase they want and the device will pull up the translation.

It doesn't take long to have this ability, primarily because of how the phrases are organized. You can look through the corresponding phrasebook section before going out with a device in a particular situation (e.g. to the bank). Knowing the kind of phrases (e.g. "Where is the nearest bank?") will allow you to say the ones that are in the device.

To many people, this is "speech-to-speech translation." But, technically, it's not. It's using the audio phrasebook feature to use pre-translated speech for specific situations. The kicker here is you have 14,000 phrases covering a wide range of typical situations.

The situations include  Basics, Traveling, Hotel, Local Transport, Sightseeing, Bank, Communication Means, In the Restaurant, Food/Drinks, Shopping, Repairs/Laundry, Sport/Leisure, Health/Drugstore, and Beauty Care.

If we're talking about being able to pull up canned phrases that fit specific situations, then, yes, there is "speech to speech translation." But it isn't simply talking into the device and then whatever you said gets translated.

Translation is a complex endeavor, and doing it on the fly in a portable machine is beyond current capabilities. There are many reasons for this, and to understand them you merely have to be present when a human interpreter goes back and forth between two parties. Now imagine that with a machine that can't make eye contact with people and two or three people talking at the same time.

So, yes, you can speak specific phrases into a device and get a translation out. The unit will try to match what you said to what's in its internal database In every implementation today; you have to exactly match what's in the phrasebook. It actually does work, as demonstrated in this 8-minute video.

The device does not transcribe what you said to the screen. Instead, it looks up what its program says matches what you said.. Using text entry solves that problem (text entry is very easy with the latest generation of iTravl)

All of the units with this feature perform speech input in English. Many also recognize speech in the target language: Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, English, Polish, etc. A subsequent step is having the unit pronounce it, if you so desire.

Voice output for Text Translation

You don't have to study foreign language grammar, conjugate verbs or search for coherent words anymore. Now you can just type any sentence or full text in a handheld device and get its translation instantly. From English to Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish languages and back to English! (Those are the available languages with that feature).

Moreover, by pressing one button, you can hear the translated text pronounced aloud correctly in the targeted language (with the text to speech synthesized voice).  

Fact #1: You cannot simply speak free-form into a translator and have a translation come out. That's not how it works. You first navigate to the general category (easy to do), and then speak a phrase that is in that category.

Fact #2: Speech recognition is not appropriate for high noise environments, because the background noise will create problems. It works just fine in environments where the background noise doesn't require a person to speak loudly to be heard (meaning a non-earplug zone, if you're talking about a factory). If you can understand that before buying one of these devices, then you will be a very happy owner.

Yes, it sounds like we're underselling this feature. In a sense, we are. The point here is to let you know not to assume the device does on the fly translation or will always do a perfect job of speech-based lookup. It has to contend with all kinds of nuances, such as diction errors, background noise, varying rates of speech and pitch, accents, and other obstacles. It does this well, but not perfectly. The iTRAVL devices allow to create your user profile, where you can quickly train the iTRAVL device to recognize your personal voice even better.

Counterclaim: "But I saw this demonstrated! A guy spoke into the device and got the translation out." No, what you saw was not speech to speech translation. What you saw was a use of the phrasebook lookup function. That person doing the demonstration knew exactly what phrases to say. As noted, this feature works well for many situations. But it is not a "free form" translation on the fly.

Perspective: Before these electronic devices were available, people used paper pocket dictionaries  (successfully, for decades). These typically had a couple hundred words and a few dozen phrases. The electronic ones were doing 20,000 words and 2,000 phrases about a decade ago. The current generation of devices have, in many cases, over 1 million words in some language pairs (as with Spanish). They all have 14,000 phrases per language. So, a lot less gesturing and a lot more actual communication with a lot less frustration.

To do free-form speech to speech translation would require an entirely new design philosophy, plus computing power surpassing what you have on your desktop. You'd need to carry around an enormous battery (it would weigh more than your entire family) or a very, very long extension cord. Thus, all pocket devices use the table model described previously. They are far more capable than their paper predecessors, and people used those paper ones successfully for many decades.

The average American owns a passenger car that won't do the quarter mile in 10 seconds and can't hit 200 MPH. As much as we admire those supercars and would like the speed, the cars we have get us where we're going and are much better than walking when we need to go far. Plus, they cost about a tenth of what a super car costs to purchase and are far less of a headache and expense to own and maintain. The same logic applies to an electronic translation device.

Voice output

Most translation devices today have voice output. This feature is normally redundant for communication, because the other person is reading the translation on the screen anyhow. But proves useful in many situations.

Many people assume the presence of voice output with speech input means all you have to do is talk into the device and out comes a perfect translation. Then the other person talks into the device. But this assumption is wrong.

You can use voice output for purposes such as:

• When you want minimal distractions with the screen.
• When you don't want to hand the other person your device.
• When the sunlight or other conditions make the screen hard to read.
• You want to learn pronunciation (use the headset or earbuds).

Of course, you would not want to use the voice output when, for example,

• You want privacy.
• It's too noisy to hear clearly.
• You are both using the screen anyhow.

• This feature allows you to type in your own random sentence. It's also called sentence translation.
• You can type on the virtual keyboard.
• The other person can type on the virtual keyboard, in his/her own characters.
• This feature isn't available for every language pair. Look that the specs chart for the language pair you are interested in.

Question: "Does the full text translation tend to be too confusing to be useful?"

Answer: Not at all. You simply write concise sentences.

For example, you might normally say, "Do you think you might want to go to the waterfront with me this evening, maybe a litte after supper?"

With FTT, you might type in, "Go to waterfront?" Then you might point to your watch and hold up 6 fingers for the time. It takes only seconds to type that.

The other person might respond by nodding, by holding up fingers for a different time, or by typing in a message. For example, "Go to museum." In response to your disappointed look, "Waterfront dangerous in evening."

Dictionary (works in both directions)

• Advanced word recognition allows you to find a word just by typing the first few letters.
• MorphoFinder helps you find source words for English past participles, gerunds, and plural forms.
• The "Slang lock" function allows you to toggle between "include" or "exclude" (lock in/lock out) slang in the dictionaries.
• Vector Ultima spell-checker.
• English phonetic transcription.
• The WordNet Princeton edition dictionary of modern English has over 70,000 head words and detailed explanations.

The talking 39-language Picture Dictionary has real human voice pronunciation for all words.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Either person can look up a word and show the other person a pictorial representation. It's simple, quick, and clear.

• The audio phrasebook was recorded with professional native narrators. Consequently, it delivers superb voice output.
• The "You may hear" function helps another person select an answer from a list of canned answers. For instance, having picked the topic "In a restaurant," you choose a phrase. The waiter wants to reply to that phrase. You then select the "You may hear" option listed in the restaurant category (there is such an option in each category). The waiter can select the answer from the list provided.
• A "phrase" is usually a complete sentence. It's called a "phrase" out of tradition.

This handy, easy to use feature is a word substitution tool for existing phrases in the phrasebook. You don't actually "build sentences" with it. Here's how you use Sentence Builder:

• Choose a phrase.
• Tap on a hyperlinked word in the phrase. This brings up a short list.
• Tap a word from the list to replace the hyperlinked word with the one you tapped

• Language Teacher  (select models only, see specs table).
• Mobile Infotainment System (select models only, see specs table).
• Linguistic Crossword.
• Linguistic Flashcards.

Language Teacher

The interactive language teacher system is a powerful tool for learning other languages. It can listen to you and tell you how well you pronounce something in another language. When you repeat the item in the foreign language, the iTravl:

• Compares your pronunciation to the correct one.
• Shows you a "how you did" graphic.
• Repeats your pronunciation aloud.
• Repeats the correct pronunciation aloud.

• Spelling.
• Translation.
• Transcription.
• Picture for visualization.
• Diagram of the correct pronunciation.

On the main screen, you'll see "Learn Language Basics in 4 Steps." This tool takes you through each of those steps, and provides a structured approach so you don't get lost or confused. This is available in most iTravl language sets, but not all. See the Specifications area (above). Here are five screen shots. The first one is the main menu. We provide a screenshot, in sequence, for each item on that menu.

Mobile Infotainment System

This is a mobile implementation of Language Teacher, designed for voice operation. You wear a headset microphone to do this. It's very similar to the Language Teacher, but is hands-free. If you're driving with a passenger, your passenger can learn a language rather than distracting you. Or, you could use this system yourself while your vehicle isn't moving and just hit Pause when it's time to drive again.

This module utilizes hands-free, eye-free technology originally developed by Ectaco for the U.S. Army. The user can mount the iTravl on the windshield or dashboard in the car. After connecting the over-the-head microphone to the iTRAVL, you just follow the spoken prompts from the device.

You listen to the words and phrases iTRAVL says and repeat them. The speech analyzing software process your speech and grades it as Good, Satisfactory, or Unsatisfactory and tells you how well you did.

The current course consists of 7 topics: Time, Hotel, Restaurant, Foodstuffs, Transport, Shopping, and General Phrases. The have various subtopics.

We provide an Automobile Accessory Pack to facilitate use of this program, though you can use the program with just a headset and car charger.

Note: This feature is not on all iTravls (which are differentiated by their language set). See the specifications chart to determine if it's on the model you are considering.

Games: Linguistic Crossword and Linguistic Flashcards

In the iTravl manual, you will see five games listed, but the iTravl menu shows only two. What's up with that? Well, there actually are five. One is Linguistic Crossword, and the other four are variations of flashcard games so you access them from "Linguistic Flashcards."

The original games were pretty useless for English speakers. Ectaco has completely revamped these, and now they are engaging, entertaining, and helpful (euphemistically speaking, that is--if we admit to how addictive they are, your significant other might nix the purchase and we can't have that).

In Linguistic Crossword, you have a crossword puzzle. It has user options to help you, if you get stuck. These include "Reveal word," Show letter," "say English word," Say clue." It's really fun, and it helps you learn new words in the target language.

In Linguistic Flashcards, you can select from four different games:

1. Hangman. You spell the translation, and are allowed 8 attempts. The program draws a gallows on your first miss, and it gets worse from there.
2. Pockets. As you get the translation of each word correct, you move it from one pocket to another.
3. Translation test. A multiple choice approach.
4. Spell. Similar to Flashcards, but you have to spell the translation correctly. This one is a bit backwards, as it should have you spell the source word rather than the translation. But it still forces you to translate into English.

We want you to get the product that's right for you.

You will find translator industry jargon defined in our glossary. The last thing we want is poor communication!

• Comes complete. You don't need to buy anything extra to use it. But if you travel outside the USA, you need some means of using your USA-style plug in a local receptacle. That's why we offer the AC Travel Kit.
• Follows standards. The iTravl's controls are instantly familiar to anyone who uses digital devices. You don't have to learn a proprietary system.
• You will enjoy it for many years. Customers sometimes ask if our prices are low because something newer is coming out. No, our prices are low because, for example, we don't hype up products and our ultra low return rate reduces our overhead. You will be a happy iTravl translator owner for years to come, if you buy one today.
• Has electronic manual onboard. It's easy to access, well-organized, and easy to use. You don't have to drag a paper manual around. Actually, the iTravl is so intuitive you don't even need a manual

• The iTravl, at 6.0 x 3.15x 0.63 in, is about 50% larger than an iPod (4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 in). So, it's not teeny but it is smaller than some PDAs.
• The software for a language set comes on an SD card. This card determines what you have. For example, a French iTravl becomes a Russian iTravl when you insert the Russian SD card. This opens many possibilities for the iTravl owner.

Visibility

• Hi-resolution backlit color screen. Oddly enough, Ectaco engineers felt that being able to actually see what's on the screen without the use of an electron microscope might appeal to some customers (what crazy guys, huh?). This kind of screen is the best available today.
• Color-coded parts of speech. Allows you to quickly select the right word(s).

Graphics

The iTravl uses graphics to make operation simple and efficient. Examples:

• Tap the battery indicator to toggle between a pictorial representation and a percentage display.
• Tap the language indicator, and you instantly switch between languages.
• Tap the keyboard icon, and a virtual keyboard opens (a standard function for mobile devices).
• Tap the Statue of Liberty graphic on the main screen of a multi-language unit, and the language selection screen opens.

• Adjustable Auto Off function will shut off translator when it’s idle.
• Powered by rechargeable 900 mAH battery (included), which is charged by an AC adapter (included).
• Also charges when connected to PC (or laptop) by USB cable (any mini-USB cable). Cable is included.
• You can charge a spare battery and the device simultaneously with the cradle charger (included with iTravl Deluxe), available for purchase separately.

• We have tested these units extensively and found they have consistently long run times.
• One test consists of leaving the device to play the 3 hour, 8 second Paris Versailles audio book with screen set to 80% and Power Off set to Never. After six hours, the iTravl still hasn't drained the battery.
• The people making battery complaints on various forums failed to properly charge the battery.
• We have yet to find a "bad battery" issue that isn't corrected by proper charging.
• It's a 900mAH battery with a 300mA charger. Battery charging isn't linear, so it's not 3 hours (3H x 300mA) to charge it up. It takes about 6 hours.

You can train the device to adjust the speech recognition to work specially for your voice. Up to 90% speech recognition is achieved in this way (especially when using a headset), even in noisy places.

Some iHelp features:

1. You can create and record your own phrases (even not included in the built-in phrasebook) in the iHelp section.
2. It is very useful for business users, who often use the same phrases.
3. The phrase translation and voice pronunciation can be recorded using the built-in talking text translator.
4. Or recorded by any native human speaker via the microphone.
5. The phrases from the iHelp section can be spoken aloud just by saying the chosen "calltag" for it.
6. The device is in standby mode, so you do not even have to press any button. For example, you record a calltag "name" and the device pronounces the entire phrase "What is your name?" in the setup language.
7. You can train the device to adjust the speech recognition to work specially for your voice. Up to 90% speech recognition is achieved in this way (especially when using a headset), even in noisy places.

Mindconnection is an authorized factory dealer. We sell brand-new translators with a full one-year warranty. We don't try to pawn off stolen,  counterfeit, or broken merchandise as new. Get the real thing, get great service before and after the sale. Buy from Mindconnection.

Scanning language limitations

The Deluxe version is available only for certain language pairs. Among these pairs, it scans in either language except Chinese. The 9C Deluxe and Chinese Deluxe will not scan Chinese characters.

How scanning works

• Word or line at at time. It's a pen scanner. What activates the scanning is the pressure of the tip against the surface being scanned. Set the pen down to start the scan, lift it to stop the scan. This means you scan a word or line at a time.
• Not in real time. Scanning is one operation. OCR is the next operation. Then translation. These have to happen in that sequence, which means it takes a few seconds to get a translation.
• Displays to screen. The iTravl Deluxe is specially modified at the hardware level and the firmware level to work with the scanning pen that is specially modified for the iTravl Deluxe. It's not a PC peripheral. The point of the scanning feature is to optically get text input to the iTravl device and translate that text.

From this window, you can pull up a list of all of the accessories for the iTravl translator (except for the Accessory Pack; see above).

• The iTravl (and Deluxe) comes complete, with everything you need except a travel converter. We include a travel converter in the Accessory Pack and sell one separately as well.
• The iTravl Deluxe comes with a cradle charger (which allows you to charge a spare battery and your iTravl at the same time).
• You'll need the AC Travel Kit if you travel outside the USA (unless you already have your own power converters or get the Accessory Pack).
• The car charger is very handy, and it can power any USB-powered accessory.

Probably, it's a good idea to get a spare battery and a couple of spare styli (a spare battery and spare stylus come in the Accessory Pack, plus we sell them separately). Funny thing about a stylus. If you have a spare, you never lose the original. If you don't have a spare, you're guaranteed to lose it. One of life's minor mysteries....

• AC Adapter
• Earbud and mic set.
• Carrying strap.
• USB cable.