Translation devices at CES have broad range of features, prices
With international travel to Las Vegas increasing — or for people planning to go abroad to a country with a language they don’t understand — a translating device could be an important investment to narrow the language gap.
At least four translating devices with differing features and price points were shown at booths at CES this week.
All have multiple mode usage. Some go in your ear, some are tethered to phone apps, at least one is a dual-screen tablet and all of them translate complete sentences in seconds.
The Supreme Tech Lifestyle Gear translator, developed in New York and Shenzhen, China, has six modes and works on- or offline. The translator is an earpiece that connects to free apps available through Google Play or the Apple App Store,
The Supreme Tech device supports 33 languages and has modes for conversation between two people, a telephone chat mode, a group chat mode that communicates with multiple people in a room in their own language, a broadcast mode for a single speaker talking to multiple people in their own language and a language tutor mode to help individuals learn a language.
It takes two hours to charge, can be used continuously for five hours and has a range of about 33 feet. At $50, it’s the least expensive of the translators shown.
The Waverly Labs Ambassador translator also is an earpiece device with a black or wine-red, clamshell design over-the-ear speaker that interprets 20 languages and 42 dialects.
It, too, connects with a free app and has three modes, listening, lecture (which connects through a smartphone speaker), and converse which requires at least two earpiece devices. It has a six-hour battery life.
The Ambassador has a push-to-talk conversational mode that’s easy for back-and-forth conversation with a click of the device.
The system will retail for $199 and comes with two units per order.
The Vasco Electronics Mini 2 translator was developed in Krakow, Poland and has a U.S. office in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
It’s about the same size as a typical voice recorder so it can easily fit in any pocket.
One of the advantages of the Vasco Mini 2 is that it can connect free to the internet in 150 countries.
The device has three translation engines and can decipher 56 languages.
The company already has sold more than 50,000 units. It retails for $249.
The most expensive of the translator devices also is the most sophisticated.
ILA — the Instant Language Assistant — initially was developed as a communications device for deaf and blind people.
The device, which won a CES Eureka Park Accessibility Contest innovation award, consists of two 8-inch tablets secured back to back with a hinge to enable conversations between two people. The dual screens ensure accuracy in a conversation.
Translate Live LLC was established to turn the accessibility device into a translator capable of interpreting 120 languages.
The device is enabled to operate with a WiFi or a cellular signal.
The ILA hardware costs $999 and an annual subscription service costs an additional $129 a year.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.