back to article Babel fish? We're getting there. Reg reviews the Timekettle X1 AI Interpreter Hub

One of the more useful applications of AI technology is translation and interpreting. The Timekettle X1 AI Interpreter hub attempts to move things forward with a pleasing industrial design. Timekettle X1 AI Interpreter Hub Timekettle – the name comes from the Asimov novel The End of Eternity – has been in the translation …

  1. katrinab Silver badge
    Meh

    Surely two pairs of noise-cancelling over-ears would be better?

    You need noise cancelling so you can hear the translation without hearing the original at the same time. Over-ears because other people would be more willing to put them on than in-ears.

    1. Like a badger

      Or simply rely on Bluetooth and a audio jack, let customers use their own. Article doesn't say if that's possible, if it isn't then they've made the product substantially less attractive.

      The idea of shared earpieces is indeed yuck, but the idea of dedicated non-standard earpieces is a technology yuck.

      1. Nifty

        "Or simply rely on Bluetooth and a audio jack".

        Multiple segregated Bluetooth connections to a single device? What could possibly go wrong?

        1. Stuart Castle Silver badge

          How do you know that whatever proprietory solution they have implemented will handle it better?

    2. david1024

      Small

      Over ear takes up room and would limit your ability to hear emphasis from the speaker. But, a BT option for byod would be nice.

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        Re: Small

        > Over ear takes up room

        The box itself is already a bulky bit of kit, so size isn't an issue here.

        I think an over-ear(s) solution would reduce the 'ick factor' for multiple users. Such a solution wouldn't have to cover both ears. Folding head bands (to reduce stowed size) are available.

      2. jdiebdhidbsusbvwbsidnsoskebid Silver badge

        Re: Small

        So long as the box first says (in the target phrase) "please connect your headphones to my Bluetooth device, no not any of those ones, the one called X1AI. Which X1AI? Hang on, let me check what mine is called, ah, it's X1AI_yb42-4. You'll have to set yours to pairing mode hang on, mine's timed out, there, now set yours to search again, choose X1AI_yb42-4 and you should get a six digit code, does it match this one? Good, press connect, no dont select contact sharing, now can you hear me? What do you mean you've just connected your phone, I meant your headphones. What do you mean you haven't got any headphones? Never mind, just stick this fish in your ear, come on it's only a little one."

        1. David 132 Silver badge

          Re: Small

          Obligatory XKCD.

          Yes, that one.

  2. Spazturtle Silver badge

    This will work for basic things but for proper discussions a human interpreter will still be needed as this is only translating voice. An interpreter also has to translate body language, tone of voice, ect. Different cultures may use different gestures and body language to emphasise part of their speech, tone of voice can completely alter what is said.

    1. AMBxx Silver badge
      Boffin

      Real Time?

      Different languages also move the verbs and adjectives around relative to nouns. Makes it difficult to translate to English in real time when the other language puts the verb at the start of the sentence.

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: Real Time?

        AI has got the hang of that already.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Real Time?

          time travel?!

          1. AVR Bronze badge

            Re: Real Time?

            The review mentions delays in translation. Sort of time travel, the one second per second version.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Real Time?

              Fair enough, but then it ain't real time translation! :-P

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Che?

      [shake hands in Italian]

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Che?

        Your hovercraft is full of eels?

    3. goblinski

      I doubt that any translation acknowledging body language would be discussed here, as it requires an interpreter, not a translator. Plus, on a remote meeting body language is often difficult to catch by humans even within the same language - can't really expect the moon from a device.

      For the moment, interpreting is not in the realm of any off the shelf device, and no device should be evaluated on this.

      Now, what would REALLY impress me would be if a device could catch multiple flows of overlapping voices and translate them with (almost)simultaneous different voices.

    4. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Remember that the non-English person who is speaking to you is not an idiot, and thus they will change their mode of delivery to avoid reliance on gestures. In a business context, they are unlikely to use tones such as sarcasm. Many languages do use intonation to denote a question, but usually the same can be syntactically.

      After all, if you and I were speaking on the telephone, I suspect you might say "It was about a metre long" as opposed to, were we talking face to face, "It was about yay big [gestures with hands]". Swedes and Spaniards no doubt also know the same cunning trick when communicating telephonically.

      "Homer, Mr Burns can't see you crossing your fingers over the telephone"

    5. Anonymous Coward
    6. Dizzy Dwarf

      Will it be able to translate teenagers?

    7. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Humans are also better at domain-specific translations. "Kill the daemon and children" probably translates much differently in most languages in an IT context than it does if you're discussing vampire hunting.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yes, very (very) reassuring ...

    ... audio data is only used for translation only, no data will be stored."

    ... it will send the audio data to the AWS cloud server, and we cooperate with top translation engines like Microsoft, Google, DeepL, etc. ...

    ... the data is only used for translation only ...

    ... data will be erased from the server permanently. We never store users' data.

    Yes, very reassuring indeed.

    .

  4. Mike 137 Silver badge

    "select the languages, and chat away"

    The Babel fish was more versatile -- it could automatically translate from any language in the universe (even if you didn't know what language it was) into your own (and it was free). However it apparently worked only one way (the unknown to yours) so this device is one up on that basis (subject of course to the quality of the translations it delivers).

    1. theOtherJT Silver badge

      Re: "select the languages, and chat away"

      It was also small, yellow, leech-like and considered by many as the final proof for the non-existence of god.

      ...so you know, it has that going for it too.

      1. Antony Shepherd

        Re: "select the languages, and chat away"

        But the Babel Fish also caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in history.

    2. ChrisC Silver badge

      Re: "select the languages, and chat away"

      "it apparently worked only one way"

      Well yes, each *individual* Babel Fish could only translate for its own user, but that just meant each participant in the conversation would need to have their own Babel Fish (or be sufficiently fluent in the other languages being spoken such that they could do their own translation).

      Which is basically not that much different to the X1's requirement for one earbud per participant in those modes of operation, and no different at all in the other modes where one complete unit per participant is required...

  5. Alan Edwards

    Babel fish

    "The practical upshot of which is that if you stick one in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language"

    Someone should make a fish design cover for the earpieces, for the Douglas Adams fans.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A Fiat Punto e Super Mario, warma welcome.

    1. The Bobster

      Interior?

      Scorchio!

      1. LionelB Silver badge

        The word for "no" in the Basque language Euskara is "ez", pronounced "eth". I was once in a bar in San Sebastian (my partner is Basque), where many of the clientele were speaking Euskara. Someone nearby obviously disagreed vehemently with their companions, and pronounced loudly Ez ez ez ez ez! I had some difficulty explaining my sudden and inappropriate fit of giggles.

        This is actually true*.

        Buono estente.

        *On the same occasion, I started getting a bit creeped out when I kept catching the word "eta" in the buzz of conversation. This was at the height of the Basque "troubles", and ETA was an armed Basque separatist movement (since disbanded), responsible for many violent attacks, kidnappings and bombings. Turns out "eta" means "and" in Euskara.

        1. theOtherJT Silver badge
          Coat

          ...crith woddle

          1. David 132 Silver badge

            Nimbocumulus!

        2. xyz Silver badge

          I want to learn Euskara because I want Basque chickens and want them to feel at home. I think it's based on Klingon.

          1. LionelB Silver badge

            It's basically Klingon with a strong lisp.

          2. LionelB Silver badge

            For the record, Basque chickens feel most at home sautéed in olive oil with garlic, smoked paprika and a dash of white wine or cognac.

        3. Dan 55 Silver badge

          *On the same occasion, I started getting a bit creeped out when I kept catching the word "eta" in the buzz of conversation. ... Turns out "eta" means "and" in Euskara.

          THE DICTATOR - Official Clip - "Helicopter Ride"

    2. Steve Button Silver badge

      This clip?

      You're welcome.

    3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Mange tout Rodney.

      (It's customary to refer to varieties of plants with the plant name first and then the variety after, e.g. "Rose Heaven Scent". I'm waiting for some enterprising plant breeder to come up with a variety of Mange tou called Rodney".

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Timekettle would like £554.11 ($699.99) for a single device

    against a mid-range android (13) device, a pair of decent wireless earphones and maybe an openAI subscription (if you feel you need to spend more). But hey, at least they translated their only marketing bullshit micarusly only. There's sucker born every minute or somethin.

    1. Crypto Monad Silver badge

      Re: Timekettle would like £554.11 ($699.99) for a single device

      If it were an i-Device, then it would be

      "Apple would like £699.99 ($699.99) for a single device"

  8. DS999 Silver badge
    FAIL

    What a useless product

    How is carrying a separate device possibly any better than putting an app on a device that everyone is already carrying with them?

    This has FAIL written all over it, just like the Rabbit r1 pocket AI device (which is now massively discounted)

    There is no market for separate devices that can be an app on your phone. That's proven by the fact that this (and the Rabbit r1) actually ARE Android devices, just with a different package built around them. There's nothing in this that makes it a better solution than an app, unless someone thinks a drawer to hold earpods is a game changer innovation lol

    1. doublelayer Silver badge

      Re: What a useless product

      The only way it could work, in my opinion, is if the hardware is designed to fix problems that existing translation apps can't. For instance, if they're building this because it lets them include more and better microphones, thus decreasing background noise and improving the speech recognition, then they have a case. If they've got new local models, but those models don't run fast enough without a good NPU and they've built their box to have one, then they have a case. If instead they built a device so they could sell it as hardware instead of software, then I get their intent*, but it's as disappointing as you say.

      * I think there are some markets which will buy hardware but very little or nothing for software. A lot of consumers have gotten used to a world where software is free, which makes it hard to sell software without going to a subscription model and annoying everybody.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: What a useless product

        The problem it's trying to fix is that nobody would pay $$$ for an app, while they will for hardware.

        That's why a whole bunch of corporate boardroom meeting hardware exists.

        I suspect it will become a $/month subscription app on your phone when this fails

      2. DS999 Silver badge

        Re: What a useless product

        A subscription model may be "annoying" but would you rather pay say $19.99/month for something you can cancel and only subscribe in the months you are traveling versus paying $500 or whatever for a device you may use a few weeks every year or two - with hardware that will quickly become outdated and will become a brick the moment the company selling it goes under.

        It is only a matter of time before they go under; just look at Rabbit's owners going into desperation mode selling them for $199! Is there anyone reading this who think those devices will still function 12 months from now?

        1. Jan 0

          Re: What a useless product - Rabbit?

          Here in the UK, I guess that the youth of today wonders why so many old houses have Octagonal aerial enclosures at roof level! They probably think it's some relic of the Cold War.

        2. doublelayer Silver badge

          Re: What a useless product

          My preference would be to have an app if my phone is capable, thus avoiding the hardware, and to have a single purchase price, thus avoiding the subscription. I just pointed out that there are many markets where my preferred model basically doesn't work because people are unwilling to buy software but accept paying for hardware and subscriptions. That doesn't mean this hardware device will be successful. I think a lot of people will continue to use Google Translate and ignore the existence of this thing, and for all I know, their system might not have much improvement over that anyway.

          Also, I think you might have one thing wrong:

          "just look at Rabbit's owners going into desperation mode selling them for $199!"

          $199 was the original release price. It's the same cost that it ever was. I didn't want one then, I still don't want one, and I'm not sure the company will continue to exist for long, but your sentence can be correctly paraphrased as "just look at Rabbit's owners going into desperation mode still selling them for the original price!"

          1. DS999 Silver badge

            Re: What a useless product

            I saw an article about a price cut, must have been on one of the other similar devices, there have been so many between Rabbit, Humane's AI pin, and so forth.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This functionality will be free in video calls soon...

    ...I'm surprised with all the AI, it isn't here already.

    1. Someone Else Silver badge

      Re: This functionality will be free in video calls soon...

      Did I detect an elided <sarcasm> tag?

  10. Stuart Castle Silver badge

    I'm not sure this will succeed..

    Unless there is a good reason they are using a dedicated box and earphones, it's not really doing anything that couldn't be done more cheaply with other devices (perhaps a phone and bluetooth headset). Devices that are already owned by the user, and, for enterprises, likely already managed by whatever MDM solution they have. Fair enough, it may be possible to manage this device with whatever MDM system you have (and, TBH, in my experience, most devices can be managed by System Center, even if the excperience isn't pleasan). Even enterprises need a good reason to spend hundreds on a device when their users already have devices that can perform that function.

    Also, there is a the problem with automated translation. There are plenty of words and phrases in most languages that are pertfectly valid in the language that aren't necessarily used in certain contexts. I can't think of any right now, but they are there. Current translation systems don't take that into account.

    I think the youtuber, Stop, Drop and Retro (who used to do an excellent series of videos covering crowdfunding scams, but doesn't seem to be active now) covered it, when talking about small translation devices that have been crowdfunded covered it well when he said that these devices get the syntax correct, but don't take into account how we communicate.. In fairness, the devices he talks about appear to be aimed at single blokes looking for hot foreign women, but I think his comments are valid. https://youtu.be/BwI8MtcmqyU?t=181

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge
      Coat

      It's less nickable

      An iPad or similar tablet/phone is likely to get temporarily or permanently "borrowed" pretty quickly.

      A single-purpose device is still going to be there when it's needed.

      We sell a few different apps, and also an industrial tablet that is basically a "ruggedised" Android image locked down so it can only update the factory-installed apps and never install anything else.

      Plenty of corporations buy the industrial tablet, because it won't walk.

  11. Ken G Silver badge
    Alien

    Telephone sanitizers needed

    Pop one in an ear and give the other to the person you wish to converse with

    That doesn't sound very hygienic, especially at a large conference.

  12. Mage Silver badge
    Windows

    Expensive?

    And this is where the cost of the X1 AI Interpreter Hub comes into play. Timekettle would like £554.11 ($699.99) for a single device, effectively pricing it out of reach for most consumers and giving cash-strapped enterprises pause for thought.

    Has the author seen the price of "flagship" iPhones and Samsung phones ordinary consumers buy? Yes I know many are contract and only €10 upfront. That needs to stop, because often all the customers are effectively helping to pay for that and it reduces competition in the phone market.

    The Gridiron was promoting the latest iPhone that's about €1000 this week. This gadget is less than x3 the price of a more affordable phone bought without contract. You can get cheaper laptops, but also pay x4 of this price for a laptop.

    Car costs for a company?

    Cost of one business trip?

    A big screen TV?

    It's not expensive.

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