Samsung’s newest Galaxy phone offers live translation for phone calls and text messages

During Samsung’s launch event today, they unveiled their new Galaxy S24 line of smartphones, which are powered by AI. Along with this release, the company demonstrated how AI can enhance the calling experience through a new feature called Live Translation. This feature, along with others, will be available on the new smartphones and will allow users to make or receive calls in a language they are not familiar with. The call will then be translated in real-time both audibly and on the screen.

During today’s Unpacked event, the AI technology was showcased by the company, demonstrating its capability to assist in making a restaurant reservation for individuals who are not fluent in Spanish. The conversation within the native Call app was instantly translated for the caller when they spoke to the other person on the phone. The recipient was able to respond in their preferred language, such as Spanish, which was then translated back into the caller’s language, English.

According to Drew Blackard, the Vice President of Product Management at Samsung, it is akin to having a personal interpreter present during your phone calls.

According to Samsung, the live translation function will be introduced and will be able to provide audio and text translations for 13 different languages. Furthermore, all translation processes take place on the device, ensuring the confidentiality of Samsung users’ phone conversations.

According to the company’s suggestion, the characteristic will also retain your language preferences and the language spoken by each of your contacts, eliminating the need for you to manually update them before engaging in a conversation. This functionality could be beneficial for individuals who frequently make international calls or travel frequently.

The translation capabilities of the system extend beyond just voice calls, as it is able to translate both your spoken and written words for the other party, and vice versa.

Furthermore, the Samsung keyboard now has a translation function that allows you to instantly translate words and phrases while typing. As you engage in a conversation, the keyboard will automatically identify the language being used and translate the content into the recipient’s native tongue. This feature can be beneficial, especially when both parties speak the same language but prefer communicating in their mother tongue.

According to Samsung, individuals have the option to choose from various styles of communication such as “casual” for chatting with friends or a more professional tone for interacting with work contacts. Additionally, there are options for an enthusiastic tone, a social tone (for social media posts), and even a Shakespearean tone for those feeling “a little whimsical,” as stated by the company.

Just like when speaking and translating in real time, these translations occur directly on the device using Google’s highly efficient AI model, known as Gemini Nano.