<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
is	O
any	O
electronic	O
device	O
or	O
software	B-Application
application	I-Application
that	O
provides	O
audio	O
translation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
includes	O
any	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
service	O
or	O
software	B-Application
application	I-Application
for	O
hand-held	O
devices	B-Algorithm
,	O
including	O
mobile	O
telephones	O
,	O
Pocket	B-Device
PCs	I-Device
,	O
and	O
PDAs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
provides	O
hand-held	O
device	O
users	O
with	O
the	O
advantage	O
of	O
instantaneous	O
and	O
non-mediated	O
translation	O
from	O
one	O
human	O
language	O
to	O
another	O
,	O
usually	O
against	O
a	O
service	O
fee	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
nevertheless	O
,	O
significantly	O
smaller	O
than	O
a	O
human	O
translator	O
charges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
communication	O
means	O
(	O
Internet	O
connection	O
or	O
SMS	B-Device
)	O
to	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
translation	B-Application
system	I-Application
allowing	O
the	O
Japanese	O
to	O
exchange	O
conversations	O
with	O
foreign	O
nationals	O
through	O
mobile	O
phones	O
was	O
first	O
developed	O
in	O
1999	O
by	O
the	O
Advanced	O
Telecommunications	O
Research	O
Institute	O
International-Interpreting	O
Telecommunications	O
Research	O
Laboratories	O
,	O
based	O
in	O
Kansai	O
Science	O
City	O
,	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
software	O
for	O
handheld	O
devices	B-Algorithm
featuring	O
translation	O
capabilities	O
for	O
user-input	O
text	O
,	O
SMS	B-Device
and	O
email	O
,	O
was	O
commercially	O
released	O
in	O
2004	O
by	O
Transclick	O
and	O
a	O
patent	O
was	O
issued	O
to	O
Transclick	O
for	O
SMS	B-Device
,	O
email	O
and	O
IM	O
translation	O
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2005	O
,	O
another	O
Japanese	O
company	O
,	O
NEC	O
Corporation	O
,	O
announced	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
translation	B-Application
system	I-Application
that	O
could	O
be	O
loaded	O
in	O
mobile	O
phones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
system	O
could	O
recognize	O
50,000	O
Japanese	O
words	O
and	O
30,000	O
English	O
words	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
simple	O
translations	O
when	O
travelling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technological	O
advances	O
within	O
the	O
miniaturization	O
of	O
computing	O
and	O
communication	O
devices	B-Algorithm
have	O
made	O
possible	O
the	O
usage	O
of	O
mobile	O
telephones	O
in	O
language	O
learning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2005	O
,	O
they	O
shifted	O
their	O
focus	O
to	O
providing	O
vocabulary	O
instruction	O
by	O
SMS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vocabulary	O
phrases	O
,	O
quizzes	O
,	O
and	O
short	O
sentences	O
were	O
sent	O
via	O
SMS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
Translate	I-Application
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
highly-utilized	O
translation	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
See	O
also	O
Infoscope	B-Device
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
handheld	O
device	O
composed	O
of	O
a	O
digital	O
camera	O
and	O
wireless	O
internet	O
access	O
,	O
developed	O
at	O
IBM	O
's	O
Almaden	O
Research	O
Center	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
service	O
,	O
a	O
mobile	O
device	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
external	O
computers	O
(	O
servers	O
)	O
that	O
receive	O
the	O
user-input	O
text/speech	O
,	O
translate	O
it	O
and	O
send	O
it	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
usually	O
done	O
via	O
an	O
Internet	O
connection	O
(	O
WAP	B-Protocol
,	O
GPRS	B-General_Concept
,	O
EDGE	O
,	O
UMTS	B-Protocol
,	O
Wi-Fi	O
)	O
but	O
some	O
earlier	O
applications	O
used	O
SMS	B-Device
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
the	O
translation	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
is	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
confused	O
for	O
the	O
user-editable	O
(	O
talking	O
)	O
dictionaries	O
and	O
phrase	O
books	O
that	O
are	O
already	O
widespread	O
and	O
available	O
for	O
many	O
hand-held	O
devices	B-Algorithm
and	O
do	O
not	O
normally	O
require	O
internet	O
connectivity	O
on	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
may	O
include	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
useful	O
features	O
,	O
auxiliary	O
to	O
text	O
translation	O
which	O
forms	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
the	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
user	O
can	O
input	O
text	O
using	O
the	O
device	O
keyboard	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
also	O
use	O
pre-existing	O
text	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
email	O
or	O
SMS	B-Device
messages	O
received	O
on	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
device	O
(	O
email/SMS	O
translation	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
applications	O
also	O
offer	O
additional	O
services	O
that	O
further	O
facilitate	O
the	O
translated	O
communication	O
process	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
pairs	O
offered	O
for	O
automatic	B-Application
translation	I-Application
on	O
mobile	O
devices	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Image	B-Algorithm
translation	I-Algorithm
depends	O
on	O
the	O
OCR	O
languages	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobilizing	O
Human	O
Translation	O
:	O
human	O
translators	O
can	O
use	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
tools	O
to	O
translate	O
wherever	O
and	O
whenever	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Human	O
translators	O
no	O
longer	O
have	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
desktop	O
translation	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Travelling	O
:	O
Real	O
time	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
can	O
help	O
people	O
travelling	O
to	O
a	O
foreign	O
country	O
to	O
make	O
themselves	O
understood	O
or	O
understand	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Business	O
networking	O
:	O
Conducting	O
discussions	O
with	O
(	O
potential	O
)	O
foreign	O
customers	O
using	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
saves	O
time	O
and	O
finances	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
instantaneous	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Real	O
time	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
much	O
lower	O
cost	O
alternative	O
to	O
multilingual	O
call	O
centres	O
using	O
human	O
translators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Globalization	O
of	O
Social	O
Networking	O
:	O
Mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
allows	O
chatting	O
and	O
text	O
messaging	O
with	O
friends	O
at	O
an	O
international	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Learning	O
a	O
foreign	O
language	O
:	O
Learning	O
a	O
foreign	O
language	O
can	O
be	O
made	O
easier	O
and	O
less	O
expensive	O
using	O
a	O
mobile	O
device	O
equipped	O
with	O
real	O
time	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Statistics	O
reveal	O
that	O
most	O
college	O
students	O
own	O
mobile	O
phones	O
and	O
find	O
that	O
learning	O
a	O
foreign	O
language	O
via	O
mobile	O
phone	O
proves	O
to	O
be	O
cheaper	O
than	O
on	O
a	O
PC	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Advances	O
of	O
mobile	O
technology	O
and	O
of	O
the	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
services	O
have	O
helped	O
reduce	O
or	O
even	O
eliminate	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
disadvantages	O
of	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
such	O
as	O
the	O
reduced	O
screen	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
and	O
the	O
one-finger	O
keyboarding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
new	O
hand-held	O
devices	B-Algorithm
come	O
equipped	O
with	O
a	O
QWERTY	O
keyboard	O
and/or	O
a	O
touch-sensitive	O
screen	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
handwriting	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
which	O
significantly	O
increases	O
typing	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
2006	O
,	O
most	O
new	O
mobile	O
phones	O
and	O
devices	B-Algorithm
began	O
featuring	O
large	O
screens	O
with	O
greater	O
resolutions	O
of	O
640	O
x	O
480	O
px	O
,	O
854	O
x	O
480	O
px	O
,	O
or	O
even	O
1024	O
x	O
480	O
px	O
,	O
which	O
gives	O
the	O
user	O
enough	O
visible	O
space	O
to	O
read/write	O
large	O
texts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
important	O
challenge	O
facing	O
the	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
industry	O
is	O
the	O
linguistic	O
and	O
communicative	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
translations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
some	O
providers	O
claim	O
to	O
have	O
achieved	O
an	O
accuracy	O
as	O
high	O
as	O
96%	O
,	O
boasting	O
proprietary	O
technology	O
that	O
is	O
capable	O
of	O
“	O
understanding	O
”	O
idioms	O
and	O
slang	O
language	O
,	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
is	O
still	O
distinctly	O
of	O
lower	O
quality	O
than	O
human	O
translation	O
and	O
should	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
care	O
if	O
the	O
matters	O
translated	O
require	O
correctness	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
method	O
that	O
has	O
been	O
utilized	O
to	O
mitigate	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
accuracy	O
in	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
translation	I-General_Concept
,	O
is	O
ontology	B-General_Concept
learning	I-General_Concept
combined	O
with	O
terminology	O
extraction	O
to	O
identify	O
frequently-used	O
phrases	O
,	O
semantic	O
interpretation	O
to	O
determine	O
the	O
correct	O
context	O
and	O
meaning	O
of	O
a	O
given	O
phrase	O
,	O
and	O
implementation	O
of	O
a	O
data	O
structure	O
to	O
store	O
the	O
nuances	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
prior	O
multi-meaning	O
terms	O
and	O
phrases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
SMS	B-Device
method	O
of	O
communicating	O
with	O
the	O
translation	O
server	O
has	O
proved	O
less	O
efficient	O
that	O
sending	O
packets	O
of	O
data	O
–	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
message	O
length	O
limit	O
(	O
160	O
characters	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
higher	O
cost	O
of	O
SMS	B-Device
as	O
compared	O
with	O
Internet	O
traffic	O
charges	O
–	O
Internet	O
connectivity	O
on	O
mobile	O
devices	B-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
must	O
,	O
while	O
coverage	O
in	O
some	O
non-urban	O
areas	O
is	O
still	O
unstable	O
.	O
</s>
