The fun with traveling overseas is the struggle to bridge the language gap without the need of using phrasebooks. Well, it is novel at first, until you realize you are being charged twice as much for that dish you ordered.
One startup wants to make communication much easier with the Sigmo, a pillbox-sized device that vocalizes a translated version of your queries to the waiter or questions to a random stranger which way is to the metro. It starts by selecting a language you would like to translate into, then hold the device up and say something. Sigmo records your voice, then sends it to the cloud to have it translated with the help of Google Translate through Bluetooth connection, and sends the translated phrase back to the device.
It works with up to 25 different languages, including different variants of English (United States, Canadian, United Kingdom, and Australia), Spanish (European and Latin American), French (European and Canadian), Korean, and Mandarin among others.
When not being used as a mobile voice translator, the Sigmo also works as a simple Bluetooth speaker and an aide for Google voice search while using an Android smartphone.
The Sigmo was able to raise its $15,000 funding goal on Indiegogo, reaching close to $250,000. The company plans to ship the device in January 2014 for only $50.
Source: Mashable
