Amazon adds translation to Alexa

Amazon has launched Alexa Live Translation which — according to a blog on the company’s site — “allows individuals speaking in two different languages to converse with each other, with Alexa acting as an interpreter and translating both sides of the conversation.”

Unfortunately, Amazon uses translation and interpreting interchangeably, but one thing that is clear is that users activate the feature by asking Alexa to “translate.” The virtual assistant then listens to what the first speaker is saying and identifies the language from English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese and Hindi before interpreting the message. Live Translation is currently available on Echo devices set to US English.