You don't need a tongue like Gene Simmons to master multiple languages. A free iOS app called Ortsbo 2Go lets you engage in real-time instant messaging with colleagues, family and friends around the world – regardless of your mother tongue -- and whatever you type is immediately translated into another language, and vice-versa.
Specifically, Orstbo 2Go for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch lets you communicate in more than 50 languages via Facebook Chat. For example, while English might be your preferred language, you might have business associates in Germany, friends in Hong Kong or family in Dubai. Whatever you type in English is instantly translated for the other person to read in their preferred language -- and ditto for you.
"This is a life changer, as it can be a profoundly emotional experience," says Gene Simmons, co-founder of the legendary rock group KISS, star of A&E's Family Jewels, and business partner and spokesperson for Ortsbo. "Language is no longer a barrier," adds Simmons, in a telephone interview.
While the Ortsbo web service supports more than a dozen social media platforms, Orstbo 2Go only works with Facebook Chat at this point. The first step is to log into your Facebook account from within the app and input your Facebook username. If you don't know what that is, go to Facebook on a computer and click Account Settings (or click on this tutorial video here). Then, wait for the app to load your friends list and you can initiate a conversation. A small drop-down box lets you select your language and what language you'd like it translated to.
Unlike other translation services like the popular Google Translate, Ortsbo – which means "local" in Swedish -- eliminates the need to copy and paste the text from one app to another. The app also has a section called Transl8tr, which translates your words and lets you email the text, and another section, Transcripts, to see your translation history -- should you want to.
Born in Israel, Simmons speaks five languages: English, Hebrew, Hungarian, German and some Japanese. Simmons shared a story about receiving anonymous love notes on his iPhone -- in Hungarian – only to find out it was from his wife Shannon [Tweed], who doesn't speak Hungarian. (And yes, he used the "W" word.)
"Let's face it, technology is very unsexy," Simmons adds. "But this tool is very emotional, as it's more about people and less about technology." "When I drive my truck, open the window and enjoy my freedom, I'm not thinking about the carburetor doing this and the engine doing that."
Translations between the following languages are currently supported in this app: Afrikaans, Albanian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Arabic, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh and Yiddish.
Ortsbo says its real-time language conversion works via in-house algorithms as well as licensed technology. Accuracy is between 85 and 95 percent, says the company.
While the app worked very well in our weeklong testing – translating from English and French to Hebrew and Japanese -- it's not a perfect 10. Along with only support for Facebook at this time, another issue is the inability to search for Facebook friends; I was only able to scroll up and down to see the names of people open to chat via Facebook, but I could not search for a particular name. And while the app works on iPad, it's not optimized for the bigger screen -- so be sure to tap the 2x button to make it easier to see what you're typing and reading on the tablet's 9.7-inch display. The web version of Orstbo supports multiple and simultaneous chat sessions, but the mobile version does not.
Despite its shortcomings, Ortsbo 2Go is a free, powerful and easy to use tool for people who want to communicate with those in another language, in real-time.
An encrypted business solution, which includes an Outlook plug-in, is also available for $29.95.
