Microsoft’s Universal Translator software was created by Frank Soong. It’s software that’s basically able to speak in the user’s own voice, smoothly in sentences. Right now, Microsoft’s UT speaks 26 languages but there are more to come. All you need to do is speak English into it and it will convert it into different languages, from Spanish to Mandarin. All told, it takes about an hour to train the system with your voice.

The software will be used to help students learn new languages and develop more accurate translation apps. You can hear some samples of the translated voices over at TechnologyReview, including the voice of Rick Rashid, Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer.

While no translation software is 100% accurate, it’s still pretty impressive. This is really cool technology, and with the dramatic increases in mobile device capabilities, it’s only a matter of time before they could package it into a handheld gadget, just like the one in Star Trek. (Except for the part where it can translate alien languages it’s never heard before.)

[via DVice]

I’m not saying you can’t go wrong with the spoken word either, but at least you stand a better shot. That’s what you can come to expect with Record Me - a concept design by Luc van Hoeckel.

Basically, this is how it works: turn the knob to choose an empty slot, press the button to record, say what you want to say, then push the button again. Your message will be saved to the slot, and a light will flash to indicate that there’s a message waiting to be heard.

To be honest, it sort of reminds me of a plate that’s been stuck to the wall. Or make that a stack of plates. And in a way, it’s like an answering machine, only minus the phone lines and the automatic answering machine response.

That said, it’s still an interesting concept that many would use. There are similar voice memo products already on the market, but they don’t have the unique design and intuitive interface of the Record Me.

[via Yanko Design]

The screenshot above is from the shakey-cam video below, which was uploaded by co-Redditor animatedintro, who tried out the module and (seemingly) lived to tell the tale.

Fire up a portal to Reddit or Megaupload to download the unofficial file. It’s been confirmed to work with Nuvi 40, 200, 200W, 250, 250W, 350, Garmin Mobile XT and StreetPilot c550 units. TomTom users can also endanger their lives with a similar mod.

[via Reddit]

Each of the words is bound to one of the keys on the keyboard with the white and black keys getting their own words. The project is called the Obama Board and mostly you can use it to make gibberish sentences. (That might be what some of you already think come out of Obama’s mouth anyway.) Here it is in action, so turn up the volume:

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The words seem like you would be able to make a sentence pretty easily, but it’s actually harder than it looks. Lewis says she is a big fan of Obama, even though she didn’t vote. Actually, she can’t vote since she is Canadian.

[via Make:]

The cool thing about the little app is that it makes it stupid simple to record personalized voice messages and send them to your friends or post them to social networking sites. All you do is click the “Record” button, then the “Share” button when you’re ready to send your audio message.  You can choose to send your message to either your own e-mail box or to friends, as well as to share it on Twitter, Facebook or even Tumblr. E-mailed sounds are simply sent as an MP3 that you can play back right then and there. Sure, the iPhone already has its voice memo recorder that can send via E-mail or SMS, but it only sends .M4A files, and can’t post and share them online, and TinyVox’s interface beats Apple’s too. Sounds shared online are are stored on the TinyVox website, which is sort of like TwitPic, but for audio snippets. The only thing I don’t like is the lack of privacy controls on shared online messages, and I couldn’t find a way to delete them once they’re posted to the TinyVox site. Hopefully, they’ll add that feature at some point.

In addition, all of your messages can be stored on your iPhone on virtual “cassettes” for later playback, or shared again. Best part of TinyVox is that it comes in a free (ad-supported) version, which actually does everything that the paid “Pro” version does. And with the Pro version selling for a pricey $19.99 (USD), I imagine they really are betting on the free version taking off. On the other hand, if you really do love the app, I’m sure the developers won’t mind you buying the full version to help cover their hosting and development costs.

You can grab TinyVox over at the App Store now.

Yeah, the idea of using a snail to record personal memos is weird to me too. But maybe if you’re a fan of One Piece, it’ll make all kinds of sense to you. Of course, at an imported price of $37.80 (USD) for this thing, you’ll have to be a really, really big fan to bother throwing your hard-earned money at such a ridiculous thing.

I have to say, this is a rather novel idea. There are some words and phrases that hold strong sentimental value to a person. Being able to display these on canvas in the form of a sound wave makes it even more personal. The company can make these from virtually any sound, so it doesn’t just have to be words. You’ll want to choose your words carefully though, as these start at $120 (USD) and can get as pricey as $560.

[via inStash]

Navtones has announced the latest addition to its line of celebrity voices with Flavor Flav from Public Enemy. The voice pack is explicit as well, which is more than a little strange to me. They will work on some TomTom and Garmin machines.

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I suspect that there will be plenty of F-bombs dropped and 911 will be a joke. The voice pack can be downloaded right now for $9.95 (USD). I still prefer the KITT voice pack myself.

This behind the scenes look at the recording of the TomTom Yoda voice pack may well be the best commercial for something I have ever seen.

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It’s comedy gold when the tech says, “You’re gonna kill people if you give directions like that” and “Let’s try that again with less hmmmm and uhhhhs.”

I mean I want to go buy a TomTom GPS just to hear what Yoda will say.

[via Jalopnik]

One of the things that I never really wanted to control with my voice was my alarm clock, other than wishing it would stop ringing when I growl “Shut the F*ck Up!” early in the morning. I don’t think this slick Moshi Voice Control Digital Clock Radio will respond to that particular voice command.

The thing will respond to just about any other voice command though. You can program the alarm, the time, the radio presets, and lots more simply by saying the appropriate command. The clock has dual alarms, stereo speakers, and three alarm sounds to choose from. This clock is perfect for the visually impaired and is recognized by the World Blind Union. The clock is available now for $69.99 (USD) over at Moshi.

TomTom plans on selling voice tracks from Darth Vader, C-3PO, Yoda and Han Solo, but they’ll will probably sell more Darth Vader tracks than anything, as is evidenced by this hilarious clip of Darth in the recording studio laying down some phat GPS tracks.

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You can get your hands on the Darth Vader sounds now over at the TomTom site for $12.95(USD). The other character voices should arrive throughout the Summer.

[via The Awesomer]

NavTones has added The Hoff to its stable of celebrities that will do anything to make a few bucks. I bet Dave got enough loot from this gig to buy an entire case of scotch, and then drank it all in one go while bouncing the family dog on his lap and reclining shirtless on the floor, drooling over a burger.

If you are a sadist, you can buy The Hoff’s voice for your Garmin or TomTom GPS for $6.95 (USD). Be warned guys, if you buy this you forfeit your man card and you deserve a kick in the boys. This would make a great gag gift though.

Even though the product description over on Strapya World says “The things you can do with this machine have no limits!,” from what I can tell, Takara Tomy’s Sakasa Master Japan Reverse Voice Recorder does just one thing – it records your voice and plays it backwards on-demand. That’s it. End of story. Why? Why the heck not?

I wonder if you say “REDRUM” into this thing that it really will say “MURDER”?

[via TOKYOMANGO]

Inspired by the 19th-century designs of Valdemar Poulsen’s wire recorder, this kit from Gakken Japan looks like it could be fun to play with. Once you put it together, you set the recording head on top of any metal surface that will hold a magnetic charge, drag the control across the surface and speak into the microphone. You can use anything from a metal tabletop to a common kitchen knife to store your secret messages. Once recorded, flip the playback switch and you’ll hear your scratchy voice played back as you move the magnetic head. The video below shows how it works. Feel free to jump ahead to around 50 seconds in to get to the interesting bits.

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Keep in mind that the instructions for assembling this kit are entirely in Japanese. But they do seem to have enough visual detail that you should be able to build the wire recorder successfully. Want one? You can order the wire recorder kit over at the Maker Shed for $38.99 (USD). Just don’t try putting this anywhere near your old VHS tape collection.

The “Speaking Piano” has been programmed to recite The Proclamation of the European Environmental Criminal Court World Venice Forum 2009, for all to hear. Artist/composer Peter Ablinger transcoded the voice of an elementary student into data that could then be interpreted by a computer and mapped to servos that play the piano keys. Why? Something to do with an artistic and political statement.

And while the humans in the video clip below are speaking in German, the piano speaks its truth in plain English. Turn up your volume, watch, and enjoy…

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Weird, wild stuff indeed. Alles klar, herr kommissar?

[via adafruit industries, hack-a-day and matrixsynth]

Electronic musician Denkitribe (with the help of DS-10 master Keishi Yonao) managed to figure out a way to adjust the analog sound waveforms to sound like the words in Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. While the formant synthesis waveforms don’t sound exactly like the original words, the vocoder-like effect is pretty cool, and definitely not something that I thought you could do with the DS-10 cart.

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If you don’t already have the KORG DS-10 synthesizer for your Nintendo DS, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy. It’s available over on Amazon for $19.99 (USD).

[Reader Tip: Be sure to check out the HD version of the YouTube clip to see the exact settings if you want to try this for yourself.]

Created by AssistiveWare, Proloquo2Go provides users who have difficulties speaking with a mobile text-to-speech system (known as an augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC solution) which allows individuals to quickly verbalize thoughts by pressing on icons on the iPhone’s touchscreen. The system is loaded with a vocabulary of over 7000 words and phrases, and provides an easy-to-use visual interface for finding words.

Proloquo2go features a human-sounding text-to-speech (TTS) engine which provides North American male, female, boy and girl voices. You can also download an update which allows these voices to be swapped out for British ones. There’s also a simple TTS typing interface if you want (and are able) to type words. You can even retrieve recently used phrases at any time and play them back without having to recreate them over and over again. This is a really thoughtful touch.

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While many of you might think $189.99 (USD) is a lot to pay for an app, I can only imagine what a bargain that might seem like if I had difficulty speaking. Especially knowing that traditional AAC devices cost thousands of dollars and are a huge pain to lug around. It’s nice to know that our fun and disposable gadgets can occasionally serve a meaningful purpose. Kudos to AssistiveWare for making a difference.

You can find Proloquo2Go on the iTunes App Store.

Designed by Japan’s Takara Tomy, Clockman jars you awake each morning with a variety of chatty statements, along with some goofy animated facial expressions. But even after you hit the snooze bar, he seems to keep going, and going, and going. Clockman just doesn’t know when to shut up. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for those of us who don’t speak Japanese, we have no idea what Clockman is actually saying. Here – watch the video below and let us know what you think Clockman is talking about.

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I like to think he’s saying something like “What the hell are you still doing in bed?”, “Don’t you have to get to your McJob so you can buy more cheap plastic gadgets from Japan? Loser!”

The other weird thing is that you’re supposed to choose a Clockman based on your blood type. There’s AB, B, O and A versions for you to pick from. Why? Why not? The guys over at CScout Japan seem to have an explanation – but it’s about as scientifically sound as biorhythms, horoscopes and tarot card readings.

I dare you to buy an O, even if you’re AB negative. Do you think it might reject you like a transplanted organ?

Clockman hits the streets of Japan this September, and it’s doubtful that we’ll see an English-language version anytime soon ever.

[photos: Kaden Watch and CScout Japan]

Either way, it’s one more nagger! It’s just like having another mother in the house. To make sure that full nagging potential is used, place the calendar where family members frequently pass by – in the bathroom, on the back door, by your son’s window, etc. The Jenda Voice Calendar is available at SkyMall for $40 (USD) + shipping.  It uses 3 AAA batteries. I don’t know if they’re included.

*The mother in the picture is saying – That’s right Mary, today’s the day I file for divorce! Thanks for reminding me my little angel!”

[via Random Good Stuff]

The Trinvo can cross-translate between 12 languages, including Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), and Turkish. English isn’t supported. I’m kidding, of course it is. The Trinvo (supposedly) speaks using a native human voice, and it’s dictionary holds over 2,500 words as well as over 750 commonly used travel-related sentences for each of the included languages. I hope it can say “I have to urinate”, “I missed my flight”, and “Mommy”. You can also plug in a pair of headphones and listen to the built-in words and sentences via the 3.5 mm jack. You can buy a Trinvo for only £35 (approx. $58 (USD) at Gadgetshop. Hangman and Quiz games included.

[via Gadget Blog]