Google debuts mobile text translation; Verizon Wireless to support Skype; AT&T says it’s nothing new; Tekelec lands deal with No. 7 telecom

Updated Feb. 16, 2010 at 2:33 p.m.

Google debuts mobile text translation; Verizon Wireless to support Skype; AT&T says it’s nothing new; Tekelec lands deal with No. 7 telecom

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News from the Mobile World Congress from the Associated Press and Local Tech Wire:

Google demos text translation for mobile phones

BARCELONA, Spain - Stumped by foreign languages when you're traveling? Google Inc. is working on software that translates text captured by a phone camera.

At a demonstration Tuesday at Mobile World Congress, a cell phone trade show in Barcelona, an engineer shot a picture of a German dinner menu with a phone running Google Inc.'s Android software. An application on the phone sent the shot to Google's servers, which sent a translation back to the phone.

It translated "Fruhlingssalat mit Wildkrautern" as "Spring salad with wild herbs."

There was no word on when the software would be available.

Software that translates text from pictures is already available for some phones, but generally does the processing on the phone. By sending the image to its servers for processing, Google can apply a lot more computing power, for faster, more accurate results. The phone still won't order for you, though - you'll have to point at the menu.

The demonstration was part of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's keynote speech at the trade show, the largest for the wireless industry. He said phone applications that take advantage of "cloud computing" - servers accessible through the wireless network - will bring powerful changes to the industry.

Schmidt's speech also featured a demonstration of videos and a game running on an Android phone using Flash, a format that's ubiquitous on Web pages intended for PCs, but hasn't worked on many phones, including the iPhone. Support for Flash in Android and a few other smart phone operating systems is expected later this year.

• Verizon to allow Skype calls over wireless network

SAN FRANCISCO - Verizon Wireless will let customers use the Internet phone service Skype to make free calls on some phones, an application that wireless carriers have been slow to allow.

Under a deal announced Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress trade show, users of some Verizon phones who have a voice and data plan will be able to download a free Skype application in late March. That will let them call or instant-message other Skype users for free or call regular phone numbers outside the United States for a fee paid to Skype. These calls would go over Verizon's network and would not use up minutes on a cell phone plan.

Minutes would be deducted, however, to use Skype to call regular phone numbers in the U.S., Verizon said.

Initially, the mobile application will be available for nine Verizon phones, including several BlackBerry models and Motorola Inc.'s Droid and upcoming Devour handsets.

John Stratton, Verizon's chief marketing officer, said the application will be able to run all the time in the background. This means other people should be able to contact you through Skype even if your phone is on standby.

Other wireless carriers have blocked the Skype app from running all the time. It's available on the iPhone only in Wi-Fi hot spots.

In October, AT&T said it would relent and let the program work over its cellular network as well, but Skype has not yet released an application to enable that. Verizon's version of Skype mobile will not work over Wi-Fi, the companies said.

• AT&T reiterates its stance on Skype

CHARLOTTE – A spokesperson for AT&T provided the following statement to Local Tech Wire and WRAL.com about Skype calling on the AT&T Wireless network:

“You may have read that one of our competitors in the wireless business are expected to announce today that they will include Skype’s Internet calling software on their wireless phones. …

“The announcement is not a new development. AT&T already permits customers to download VoIP applications from the Internet. We also don’t prohibit or block VoIP calls on our 2G, 3G, or Wi-Fi networks.
“Several months ago we let Apple know that we have no objection to its approval of a VoIP app on the iPhone.

“In fact, AT&T’s wireless customers are free to download virtually any application they want to onto their phones. And that’s nothing new.”

• No. 7 largest telecommunications provider picks Tekelec

MORRISVILLE, N.C. – India-based Bharat Sanchar Nigram is expanding its relationship with Tekelec (Nasdaq: TKLC) for mobile number portability and session initiation protocol (SIP) routing for its networks.

SIP is a communication protocol that negotiates connections between two endpoints.

Bharat Sanchar Nigram is the world’s seventh largest telecommunications provider. The company has 55 million mobile subscribers and 35 landline subscribers. Known as BSNL, the firm already uses Tekelec network signaling solutions.

Tekelec now has 97 customers for its number portability services. Its technology supports voice, text messaging, multimedia messaging and other services across a variety of network technologies.

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Tags: Tekelec, AT&T, Verizon, Telecommunications and Wireless, Apple

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