Amazon: Simultaneous translations with Alexa launch in Germany

Amazon’s digital voice assistant Alexa is now also able to translate conversations in real time in Germany. This is made possible by the new “simultaneous translations” function, which has finally been launched in Germany as well.

Four languages to start

Combined with Amazon’s Alexa speech recognition and neural machine translation, the voice assistant can simultaneously translate conversations between German and one of currently four foreign languages.

At launch, only English, French, Spanish and Italian are supported, but more are to follow gradually. The simultaneous translations are available on all Amazon Echo devices, from the Echo Dot to the Echo Show 10 or Echo Studio. Until now, it was only possible to translate individual words or sentences – thanks to the update, it is now possible to play back entire conversations in a foreign language. The translation takes place promptly whenever a person stops speaking.

Start by voice command

To start de simultaneous translation via Alexa, all that is required is a short voice command: “Alexa, translate English” is enough to start the translation function and begin interpreting. In combination with an Echo Show device equipped with a display, the translation is also shown in text form. The translation is ended by the usual command “Alexa, stop”. Regardless of this, individual words or sentences can still be translated.

According to initial tests, the simultaneous translation function within Amazon Alexa is said to work more precisely and better than has been possible so far with the help of free skills such as ” The Interpreter”.