Google is on fire. The tech giant, fresh from unveiling its spiffy new Pixel 2 XL phone on Thursday (October 5), also announced its very first pair of premium wireless earphones. And boy, it is a game changer.
Just picture this: a world without communication barriers, where everyone can easily understand each other. That’s the sort of world Google’s new earbuds is aiming to build. Called the Google Pixel Buds, this gadget has the ability to translate up to 40 languages on the go.
It does this by tapping into Google Assistant – Google’s voice-activated AI system – every time it is paired with a new handset. Besides its linguistic abilities, the Pixel Buds can alert users to notifications, send text messages, and even give directions.
“It’s an incredible application of Google Translate powered by machine learning — it’s like having a personal translator by your side,” said Justin Payne, Google product manager.
Personal translator may be a bit of a stretch, but the Pixel Buds are indeed a powerful version of Google Translate.
All you’ve got do to translate a conversation, if you’re overseas for example, is to speak through the earbuds, wait for it to convert into text, then be translated into another language, after which speech will be played out loud for the other person to hear.
And we haven’t even touched on audio quality yet, although as far as smartphone earphones go, we’re not expecting top bracket kind of stuff. The real draw here is that translating feature, which will make travelling a whole lot easier and fun.
There’s no word yet regarding local pricing and availability, but the Google Pixel Buds will be available in the US for US$159 this November. Till then, stick with us for updates.
For more information, visit store.google.com.
Images: Google
