Microsoft's translating telephone

Speech recognition and machine translation alone are prone to errors, so certainly combining the two is likely to lead to some pretty comical results, but it certainly shows the promise such technology holds. Even today, it would probably do in a pinch.

Not all the errors were the computer's fault either. In a couple of cases, the translation or speech recognition engines didn't get things quite right. However, another time, it was a case of human miscommunication. I asked Seide how long Microsoft had been working on the project and, instead, he explained how the project worked, which the prototype then translated.

For more cool stuff from Tech Fair, check out this story on how Microsoft researchers are creating some pretty decent still images from some rather wobbly video.

The effort combines speech recognition, machine translation, and text-to-speech technology to let two people who don't share a common language nonetheless carry on a phone conversation. As part of a regional techFair at Microsoft's Silicon Valley office on Thursday, I got a chance to try out the technology, conversing with Frank Seide, one of the researchers behind the project.

Source By: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20004451-56.html

30,000 IT jobs for Saudis over next five years

RIYADH – There will be 30,000 information technology (IT) jobs for Saudi nationals over the next five years, according to Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Ja’fari, Governor of the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC).
Al-Ja’fari told Okaz in the sidelines of the information technology forum in Riyadh Sunday that the commission will ask the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education and the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) to fill these positions with Saudis.
The forum is entitled: “The challenges and opportunities for developing information technology in the Kingdom”.
Al-Ja’fari said the information technology sector’s current spending is an estimated SR22 billion. He expects it to reach SR37 billion in 2014.
He added that there is a shortage of information technology specialists in the Kingdom and this shortage will increase over the coming five years.
Al-Ja’fari called on the private sector to try to benefit from the information technology sector.





Source by: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010051071895