SDL, one of the big three in the language biz, paid $42.5 M for Language Weaver a few weeks ago.
Language Weaver, a statistical machine translation provider, is funded with spook money and is a creature of big defense spending on language automation. It is a money loser. As a business plan, this seems to work fine when funded by US taxpayers, but even the patience of defense spenders wears thin, and these guys have been losing money for a long time.
“Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities, we didn’t have to produce anything! You’ve never been out of college! You don’t know what it’s like out there! I’ve worked in the private sector. They expect results,” said Dr. Ray Stantz of Ghostbusters fame.
The guys at Language Weaver [...]

A few weeks ago, Lionbridge, the biggest LSP in the business, signed a multi-year software technology exclusive to offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based, text-to-text language automation  solutions to commercial clients based on IBM’s Real Time Translation Service (RTTS) technology.
The press is that it’s a game-changer. “The strategic agreement is expected to produce a real-time multilingual communication solution that can increase the efficiency of global business operations, and help organizations become more interconnected by enabling rapid exchange and understanding of critical information.  The offering also will enable clients to access and take action on data and information that presently is unavailable due to language barriers.  Unlike free-ware translation applications, the combined solution can be customized using each client organization’s existing content and configured for specific business processes to increase translation quality and availability.”
That smells like [...]

In the translation struggle between man and machine, it is love that will conquer, proclaimed Z, the translator formerly known as Jost Zetzsche, at the keynote speech of the American Translators Association Translation Company Division (ATA-TCD), held in Phoenix the weekend before last.
Jost, I mean Z, is the author of the Tool Kit, an online newsletter that is a must-read for any translator or language service provider concerned about the interface between translation technology and their paycheck. And while I’m plugging this guy, also check out Translator Training, a handy summary of available technology. When you do, my advice is to place a window over that GIF of a swinging Jeromobot to avoid hypnosis-driven purchases of translation technology tools.
Which was kind of the point of Z’s presentation. Machine translation to [...]

Written for the encouragement and instruction of all that have taken up the profession of translation, especially the common translator.  Second in a series.
The ancient and honorable profession of translation is changing as never before. With the rise of the machine translators, and the technology that enables swarms of hobby translators (aka “community translators”), the profession is beset by opportunity and challenge.
As the field of translation expands exponentially, growth is fastest at the bottom of the market. Why should people pay for translation if they can get it instantly for free, or by persuading others to contribute their translation labors for nothing? Sometimes it seems as if the profession of translation is beset on all sides, and a new translation model is required if professional translators are to create the value [...]

Google carries the barrier of the language with the translating telephone.

Google is developing software for the first capable assembly to translate foreign tongues almost instantly as the fish bebble and that is all, to speak with Scott in the Galaxy….
Huh? This blog is supposed to be about the Google Voice translation announcement last week, but so far I’m making less sense than usual ― this is smelling more like TranslationParty than some big voice translation breakthrough. Maybe the problem is the SDL machine translation I used for the back translation:
Google lleva la barrera del idioma con el teléfono traductor.

Google está desarrollando software para la primera convocatoria capaz de traducir lenguas extranjeras casi instantáneamente como los peces bebble y eso es todo, hablar con Scott en el Galaxy.
¡Ay, [...]

Written for the encouragement and instruction of all who have taken up the profession of translation, especially the common translator.
In 1644, Oliver Cromwell wrote the “Souldiers Catcechisme” for the New Model Army, a new military organization (and the first modern professional army) that, through conviction and consistent regulation, was finally able to sweep the King’s men from the field and restore the rights of the Parliament in the English Civil War.
Now the profession of translation faces its own version of the King’s men. Powerful institutions in search of something for nothing are eager to follow the path of Facebook in obtaining their translations for free. They have mobilized the enthusiasm of bilingual speakers for their products, enabling technologies that allow multiglots to provide their labor for nothing, or for a bit [...]

I watch the Super Bowl for the ads, which I suppose is kind of like saying I read Playboy for the articles, except that in the case of the Super Bowl ads, it’s true.  “Parisian Love” by Google was by far the best ad, and it was probably the first time I teared up watching someone else do a Google search. (I tear up plenty on my own searches… try Haiti and you’ll know what I mean.)
The Google ad (first TV ad ever for this advertising firm) tells the story of a romance helped along by a series of Google searches conducted by some guy who finds a new life after a plan to study abroad in Paris turns into love, marriage, and a need to know how to assemble [...]