Language Technology News for 2011

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Translators enjoy growing demand
2011/05/18

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/18/translators-enjoy-grow(...)
The global marketplace for interpreting, translating and other language services was estimated at $26.3 billion in 2010 and is projected to reach $38.1 billion by 2013. Most people are familiar with translators, who deal with the written word. Interpreters handle oral communication in government agencies, courtrooms, doctors’ offices and businesses.

Robots learn to create language
2011/05/17

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-robots-language.html
Researchers at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology have created a pair of robots who are creating their own language. The bots, which are being taught how to speak but not given specific languages, are learning to create a lexicon of their own. The Lingodroids develop language in the way that most human languages have probably developed, but making up words to name the places that they visit, and then share that name with the other around you. The bots basically find something that they have not seen in the past, create a word based on a random combination of syllables, and then tell the other robot the word that they have just created. Then the robots memory files will link to the word to that specific location

Twitter-based Hedge Fund launched
2011/05/17

http://www.psfk.com/2011/05/worlds-first-twitter-led-hedge-fund-opens.(...)
London-based investment boutique Derwent Capital Markets are claiming to have created Europe’s first social media-based hedge fund. Launched today, the £25 million private investment fund draws on real-time sentiment analysis to gauge insight into global fear and greed within the financial markets.

'Fantastical' Natural Language Calendar for Mac launched
2011/05/17

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/17/fantastical-natural-language-calen(...)
Flexibits has released their new calendar app for the Mac called Fantastical. This natural language calendar assistant allows you to create events by typing in your plans. The pre-release previews were very positive, commenting on the quick-access as a menu-bar item that lets you quickly enter new items.

uma raises $1.1 million for semantic web technology funding from private investors
2011/05/17

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/05/17/uma-raises-1-1-million-for-semanti(...)
Vienna, Austria-based semantic web technology company uma has raised $1.1 million in funding from TheMerger.com and multiple private European investors. Uma recently introduced a semantic display product, called uma SKIN, for digital content producers, including corporations, retailers, and brands. The product integrates large-scale multitouch LCD displays with the uma semantic web content curation engine for information delivery, enabling personalized content that tracks users with RFID and NFC technology and detects motion using 3D sensor cameras.

Clarabridge announced "Tower" for improved sentiment and text analytics for a universal customer view
2011/05/16

http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20110516005722/en/nlp/natural-lan(...)
The new release includes embedded connections to several major social media sources, full French and Portuguese NLP including advanced sentiment analysis, an API for multi-verbatim real-time access and new security and administration capabilities. In addition, users can take advantage of a host of new reports and dashboards, all of which amount to a greater focus on a universal view of the customer.

Nuance expands self-service Mobile Developer Program to China
2011/05/16

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nuance-Expands-SelfService-bw-649156030.(...)
Nuance Communications, Inc. announced that it is expanding it’s Nuance Mobile Developer Program to China, expanding the language support of the Dragon Mobile SDK to Mandarin Chinese.

Apple Files Text-To-Speech/Speech-To-Text Patent For Phone Calls
2011/05/16

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/05/16/apple-files-text-to-speechspeec(...)
You’re out at a restaurant, and your phone rings. You don’t want to be that chump blabbing to himself into a headset — but if you take the call outside, your risotto is going to get cold. You’re knee deep in the middle of a first world problem, friend — what’s your move? Apple, it seems, feels your pain. The tech giant recently filed a patent application for a text-to-speech/speech-to-text converter. This system should be a step above most current text-to-speech converters that employ an web-based service from companies like Nuance, as Apple’s patent describes a hardware-based conversion that occurs on the logic board of the phone.

Language Apps make Babel Fish a Reality
2011/05/16

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-05/16/david-rowan-word-lens
If you don't speak Spanish, you could probably muddle through an Iberian holiday via educated guesswork and dishevelled Spanglish. But you might make some bloopers (who would have thought that "embarazada" meant "pregnant"?) -- or worse, find yourself driving down a dangerous Costa Blancan road unable to read the signs.

Cambridge Semantics forges partnerships to deliver Semantically-driven operational Intelligence Solutions
2011/05/16

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/cambridge-semantics-forges-par(...)
Cambridge Semantics announced that it has enlisted several ISVs and System Integrators to join its growing roster of partners. Leveraging Cambridge Semantics' operational intelligence application tools with its under arching semantic technology, partners can deliver more value to customers with rapidly developed applications that address real business problems. ICUBE, NKA-Decker and Boston Technology are among the newest partners to align with Cambridge Semantics. With Cambridge Semantics, partners go beyond providing BI tools, which end at the report.

Apple-Nuance deal confirmed
2011/05/14

http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/09/apple-nuance-data-center-deal/
Apple's rumored pact with Nuance was given confirmation Saturday after an exploration found Nuance's voices in the new Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 3. Many of the voices added to Lion's text-to-speech conversion, such as "Moira" or "Sangeeta," are lifted directly from Nuance's RealSpeak Solo, Netputing found. Apple may have even bought out the product as part of its deal, since the demo page exists but the for-sale product has disappeared from the store.

Google's Real-Life Babelfish will translate the World
2011/05/12

http://gizmodo.com/5801247/?tag=google
The tough thing about translation: You need someone who actually speaks both languages. Easy for Spanish to English, not so much for Swahili to Inuktitut. In the Plex by Steven Levy illustrates how Google's machine translations will revolutionize human communication.

Children excel when learning in their native language
2011/05/12

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=585907
Children who learn in their native language, especially at primary-school level, are likely to perform well, Unesco director-general Irina Bokova said.

Globalization Partners released Translation Service Portal
2011/05/12

http://www.globalizationpartners.com/news/language-translation-portal-(...)
Globalization Partners International (GPI), a provider of comprehensive document, software and website translation services, announced the release of the latest version of its Translation Services Portal. The Translation Portal has added new features including a blog, global news feed, global business resource library and a budget calculator for companies needing to create annual translation budgets.

Managing the Information Glut
2011/05/12

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/05/12/managing-the-information(...)
If there is one thing there is no shortage of in the energy sector, it’s information. The sheer volume of data generated in this industry is growing exponentially, and it will only increase as we seek to collect increasingly sophisticated levels of detail about assets and operations. Fortunately, as information continues to multiply at alarming rates, there are researchers in university and commercial labs working to better aggregate, analyze and distribute massive amounts of data quickly. New advancements – such as Question Answering (QA) technology — are simplifying this complex and costly process using everyday variables such as the human language. Question and answering technology will be instrumental in uncovering the value of data and solving tomorrow’s increasing complex business problems caused by the explosion of unstructured data.