Translation earbuds

Travelling abroad becomes a lot easier with Talkbuds, which instantly translate what is said.

Earplugs as interpreter

At the airport in Dubai, understand what is being called or in Japan, tell the taxi driver where you want to go. It is all possible with Talkbuds, promises Qinux. With these translation earbuds, anyone can communicate with people who speak another language, the promise says.

To use the Talkbuds , users must first download the app and pair the earbuds with their smartphone. Then it is a matter of choosing languages and the option that best suits the conversation: screen mode, speaker mode, free call mode or offline mode.

Real-time translation

The user simply speaks in their own language and as soon as they pause, the app processes the recording and sends the translation to the conversation partner. This can be done through the speaker of the smartphone or to the other earpiece of the set, which the person is then wearing. This is useful in a one-to-one situation, for example if two people are dating who do not understand each other's language well. On the screen, the conversation can be read back in both languages.

One hundred languages

The app supports more than a hundred languages, claims Qinux. Accuracy is high for popular languages, such as English, German, French and Spanish. But as with all translation programmes, the person's pronunciation, jargon, context and ambient noise can greatly influence the result. For offline use, the languages do need to be downloaded first.

This leisure translation gadget costs around 65 euros. For those with more money to spare for real-time translations, there are alternatives, such as Timekettle or Vasco, with higher speed and translation accuracy for business use.

Photo: Qinux