Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Monday 8 February 2010, 1:11 PM
Google considering speech-to-speech translation
Automated speech-to-speech language translation should be possible in a few years' time, according to Google translation chief Franz Och.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Och said the company was examining the possible fusion of two types of technology it already has, namely Google Translate's text-to-text translation and the voice recognition system it has built into Android 2.1.
"We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years' time," Och is quoted as saying. "Clearly, for it to work smoothly, you need a combination of high-accuracy machine translation and high-accuracy voice recognition, and that's what we're working on.
"If you look at the progress in machine translation and corresponding advances in voice recognition, there has been huge progress recently."
Google Translate is able to translate text between 52 languages, with Haitian Creole being the latest addition.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Och said the company was examining the possible fusion of two types of technology it already has, namely Google Translate's text-to-text translation and the voice recognition system it has built into Android 2.1.
"We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years' time," Och is quoted as saying. "Clearly, for it to work smoothly, you need a combination of high-accuracy machine translation and high-accuracy voice recognition, and that's what we're working on.
"If you look at the progress in machine translation and corresponding advances in voice recognition, there has been huge progress recently."
Google Translate is able to translate text between 52 languages, with Haitian Creole being the latest addition.
Thursday 4 February 2010, 2:50 PM
O2 publishes 4G demo video
O2 and the network kit supplier Huawei have uploaded a video to YouTube showing their test 4G network in action.
In the video, uploaded on Tuesday, O2 "radio evolution" man Rob Joyce explains the concept of the long-term evolution (LTE) of 3G, generally referred to more simply as '4G'.
Although Joyce points out that LTE can theoretically hit downlink speeds of up to 150Mbps, the demo itself shows speeds of just under 8Mbps — comparable to many fixed broadband connections in the UK right now.
High-definition video streaming is shown in the video, as is real-time gaming, an application made possible by LTE's low latency.
Huawei is also the vendor behind one of TeliaSonera's Scandinavian LTE deployments, which involve real commercial roll-outs rather than tests, such as Huawei's UK tests with O2.
That said, it's still early days for the technology. TeliaSonera's deployment has seen mixed reports, ranging from disappointment (12Mbps) to delight (47Mbps), so a wait-and-see approach has its advantages. In any case, a variety of factors in the UK is making it unlikely that we will see LTE rolled out here until 2012 at the very earliest.
In the video, uploaded on Tuesday, O2 "radio evolution" man Rob Joyce explains the concept of the long-term evolution (LTE) of 3G, generally referred to more simply as '4G'.
Although Joyce points out that LTE can theoretically hit downlink speeds of up to 150Mbps, the demo itself shows speeds of just under 8Mbps — comparable to many fixed broadband connections in the UK right now.
High-definition video streaming is shown in the video, as is real-time gaming, an application made possible by LTE's low latency.
Huawei is also the vendor behind one of TeliaSonera's Scandinavian LTE deployments, which involve real commercial roll-outs rather than tests, such as Huawei's UK tests with O2.
That said, it's still early days for the technology. TeliaSonera's deployment has seen mixed reports, ranging from disappointment (12Mbps) to delight (47Mbps), so a wait-and-see approach has its advantages. In any case, a variety of factors in the UK is making it unlikely that we will see LTE rolled out here until 2012 at the very earliest.
Wednesday 3 February 2010, 4:56 PM
Linux dev explains Android kernel code removal
Greg Kroah-Hartman, a Linux kernel developer, has posted a blog explaining the decision to excise Google's Android code from the kernel.
Kroah-Hartman removed the code in December, noting that Android drivers "are no longer being developed and the original authors seem to have abandoned them".
In a blog post on Tuesday, Kroah-Hartman explained his motivation, saying: "No one cared about the code, so it was removed". He said Google's decision to effectively create a new kernel branch meant any drivers written for Android hardware platforms cannot be merged into the main kernel tree.
"Because Google doesn't have their code merged into the mainline, these companies creating drivers and platform code are locked out from ever contributing it back to the kernel community," he wrote. "Companies with Android-specific platform and drivers can not contribute upstream, which causes these companies a much larger maintenance and development cycle."
Kroah-Hartman noted that some companies were already trying to strip the Android-specific interfaces from their code and push that upstream to the Linux kernel, "but that causes a much larger engineering effort, and is a pain that just should not be necessary".
ZDNet UK has contacted Google to ask for comment on the story, but had received no response at the time of writing.
Kroah-Hartman removed the code in December, noting that Android drivers "are no longer being developed and the original authors seem to have abandoned them".
In a blog post on Tuesday, Kroah-Hartman explained his motivation, saying: "No one cared about the code, so it was removed". He said Google's decision to effectively create a new kernel branch meant any drivers written for Android hardware platforms cannot be merged into the main kernel tree.
"Because Google doesn't have their code merged into the mainline, these companies creating drivers and platform code are locked out from ever contributing it back to the kernel community," he wrote. "Companies with Android-specific platform and drivers can not contribute upstream, which causes these companies a much larger maintenance and development cycle."
Kroah-Hartman noted that some companies were already trying to strip the Android-specific interfaces from their code and push that upstream to the Linux kernel, "but that causes a much larger engineering effort, and is a pain that just should not be necessary".
ZDNet UK has contacted Google to ask for comment on the story, but had received no response at the time of writing.
Tuesday 2 February 2010, 5:33 PM
WiMax lost against LTE, says Alcatel Lucent
The mobile industry has clearly chosen LTE over WiMax for the next generation of mobile broadband connectivity, a senior Alcatel Lucent executive has said.
Patrick Plas, Alcatel Lucent's chief operating officer for wireless, said on Monday that the company is "not putting a lot of effort into this technology [WiMax] any longer", adding that upcoming LTE launches by companies such as Verizon showed "a clear direction taken by the industry towards LTE".
Plas is not the first to point out that LTE (the long-term evolution of 3G) is now firmly in the roadmap of most operators — even WiMax backers have acknowledged that their chosen technology is more likely to serve niche markets. It is, however, interesting to hear a telecoms hardware vendor, which still makes and markets WiMax equipment, say it.
According to Plas, LTE handsets are likely to start appearing at the start of 2011, but operators such as Verizon are more interested in data connectivity in the early stages of the technology.
Patrick Plas, Alcatel Lucent's chief operating officer for wireless, said on Monday that the company is "not putting a lot of effort into this technology [WiMax] any longer", adding that upcoming LTE launches by companies such as Verizon showed "a clear direction taken by the industry towards LTE".
Plas is not the first to point out that LTE (the long-term evolution of 3G) is now firmly in the roadmap of most operators — even WiMax backers have acknowledged that their chosen technology is more likely to serve niche markets. It is, however, interesting to hear a telecoms hardware vendor, which still makes and markets WiMax equipment, say it.
According to Plas, LTE handsets are likely to start appearing at the start of 2011, but operators such as Verizon are more interested in data connectivity in the early stages of the technology.
Friday 29 January 2010, 5:32 PM
Motorola to sell phone through Google store
Motorola is to market an Android phone directly to consumers through Google's new online store, in much the same way as the Nexus One smartphone is sold.
Sanjay Jha, the company's chief, revealed the as-yet-unnamed device in an analyst call on Thursday, following Motorola's results announcement.
"In smartphone, we plan to launch at least 20 devices, including at least one direct-to-consumer device with Google," Jha said.
The company has launched several Android phone models in recent months, including the Droid (the Milestone in Europe), which has proved popular in the US.
Motorola's results for the fourth quarter of 2009 showed the company rebounding from the haemorrhaging of cash that characterised most of its previous results over the last year and a half.
"We are pleased with the meaningful progress we made in 2009 in further improving our cost structure and strengthening the operations of the Mobile Devices business," Jha said in a statement. "Our first Android smartphone devices have been very well received. We look forward to broadening our handset portfolio in 2010."
Sanjay Jha, the company's chief, revealed the as-yet-unnamed device in an analyst call on Thursday, following Motorola's results announcement.
"In smartphone, we plan to launch at least 20 devices, including at least one direct-to-consumer device with Google," Jha said.
The company has launched several Android phone models in recent months, including the Droid (the Milestone in Europe), which has proved popular in the US.
Motorola's results for the fourth quarter of 2009 showed the company rebounding from the haemorrhaging of cash that characterised most of its previous results over the last year and a half.
"We are pleased with the meaningful progress we made in 2009 in further improving our cost structure and strengthening the operations of the Mobile Devices business," Jha said in a statement. "Our first Android smartphone devices have been very well received. We look forward to broadening our handset portfolio in 2010."
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