This illustration shows the concept for a phone call between a Korean and an American using real-time translation services. Samsung Electronics vows to introduce the features on its phones. Graphic courtesy of Samsung Electronics
Competition to provide real-time translation service for phone calls using AI is heating up.
Samsung Electronics, the world leader in smartphones, said Thursday its next-generation devices will come equipped with real-time call translation service called AI Live Translate Call. Advertisement
The tech giant did not specify a date, but the new feature is expected to come installed on Samsung’s next generation of smartphones, including the Galaxy S24, whose launch is slated for early 2024.
“AI Live Translate Call will be providing our future Galaxy AI phone users a personal translation service whenever and wherever required,” Samsung Electronics said in a statement.
“Arriving early next year, Galaxy AI will bring us closer to a world where some of the most common barriers to social connections dissolve, and communication becomes easier and more productive than ever before,” the company said.
SK Telecom, South Korea’s leading mobile operator, said Monday it would be introducing an application similar to Samsung’s later this year, developed as a part of its AI push and named “A.” — pronounced “A dot.”
“Using our AI application, our Koreans customers will be able to make phone calls with foreigners without having to know their languages,” an SK Telecom official told UPI News Korea. Advertisement
“In the initial stages, the service will be limited to translations between Korean and major dialects, including English. We expect for it to encompass far more languages, going forward,” he said.
Experts point out that the competition for real-time translation service will likely intensify.
“Samsung Electronics can offer real-time phone translation services through built-in software because it manufactures the phones,” Korean business tracker Leaders Index CEO Park Ju-gun said in a phone interview.
“In comparison, SK Telecom is a wireless operator, meaning it depends on a third-party app for offering a similar service. AI-powered features like real-time translation will become the next battleground, not only for smartphone producers, but also for app developers,” he said.
Park expected other major smartphone companies like Apple and Google to soon follow Samsung providing the service.
