A company called Jibbigo has released a new bilingual translation app for the iPhone and iPod touch, capable of translating a user’s speech directly into another spoken phrase. Users record one sentence of English or Spanish at a time, which the app then translates into a synthesized counterpart. A vocabulary of 40,000 words is included, generally skewed towards travelers and doctors.
Unusual in the software is the requirement of an iPhone 3GS for full functionality. Two-way translation is supported, but only on the 3GS. Older iPhones and the second-gen Touch are limited to unidirectional translation, and also said to operate more slowly. The app costs $25, and requires iPhone 3.0 firmware.