This service is in skin in another way in the cat application, which has a bidirectional conversation system, with your language on one side and the language of your partner on the other, upside down. There is no pressure in this configuration: each speaker simply speaks in a microphone on each side of the pocket computer, and a translation is both read and displayed in the text on their side of the screen. It is the same concept as translation with one click, but more free.
The other main functionality is a photo -based translation application, which works exactly as you think by taking an image of the text in a foreign language. The unit supports 40 languages, many with several dialects, and has the management of “93+ accents”. Any of these languages can be translated into another if you are online, either via Wi-Fi or connected via a cellular network.
But the T1 killer functionality is that you can download offline language packs, which rely on the processor powered by the unit to translate the text when you are not Connected. The device supports 31 pairs of offline languages, but note that it is not the same thing as 31 languages. The Korean translation at noon is sustained, like the Korean in the Russian, but you cannot translate the Thai into Russian unless you are online. For English, only 10 language pairs are supported and each combination you want to use must be downloaded from the device in advance, when you have a connection.
Photography: Chris Null
The translations are rapid – if not completely finished in the 0.2 seconds as Timekettle, and the precision was as good as any standard translator against which I tested it. It was a more intuitive way to translate the audio than to use Google Translate (et al.) On a smartphone, although the Google method seems to be well understood on a global scale these days, attenuating this advantage.
I have not noticed any real difference in quality or speed between online and offline translations through a range of language tests, and many of my text-based translations have transformed identical results (perhaps with suspicion) to what I got with Google Translate. The translations expressed are not perfect, as they are never with these devices, but they have roughly encountered the 90% precision that Timekettle promises. Make sure you run an operating system update (you will not be invited to do so; the option is buried in the “Settings” menu) to make the transfer between offline and online modes more transparent.
Mistreat
The only major drawback of the device is the screen, which has a sad resolution of 540 x 1080 pixels, which makes it difficult to capture with the 8 megapixel camera to translate both. Although I can easily photograph a full text screen with my mobile phone for translation, the T1 could only analyze a few lines at a time due to its limited resolution. When I zoom out, the results were generally extremely inaccurate or completely illegible. Getting closer to the text was finally necessary to obtain an appropriate translation with the T1 camera.
Photography: Chris Mull
