September 23, 1999 Web posted at: 10:17 a.m. EDT (1417 GMT) by Michael Drexler

From...

TOKYO (IDG) -- NEC demonstrated its fluency in the universal language of software when the electronics giant unveiled a translation application bundle which it says can render spoken Japanese into spoken English and vice versa in real-time.

The 400MB yet-to-be-named software bundle incorporates a voice-recognition database, a 50,000-word vocabulary and grammar database and a voice synthesizer to translate between the two languages as fast as a user can speak. The system will recognize most voices and even "understands" colloquialisms and abbreviations, according to the Japanese company.

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NEC envisions the PC-based software will eventually be used by business people and travelers and is planning to offer a version for smart phones in the future.

However, the current system requirements make running the package on most notebook computers a stretch -- the software requires 192MB of RAM to operate and must be run on at least a Pentium-class PC with Windows 98 or Windows NT.

A spokesman at the company said that a mobile version of the software will probably be server-based and use next-generation cellular technology to transmit material to and from a telephone handset.

Third-generation (3G) cellular technology, due out in Japan in 2001, will allow cell phones to transmit up to 2Mbps of data.

The application bundle builds on earlier efforts by NEC to build interpretation software. In 1983, the company displayed its first automated interpretation system to which it added voice-recognition functionality in 1991. NEC currently sells an interpretation software bundle called Crossroads that translates spoken words to text.

NEC expects to ship the software bundle by the end of next year, according to the company spokesman.

He also said that more languages are in the works, but he would not speculate about when they would be market-ready.

The company will demonstrate the software package at the Telecom99 + Interactive99 exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland from Oct. 10 to 17.

Michael Drexler writes for the IDG News Service in Tokyo.