Ukrainian company’s translation app to help transcend language barriers

“There are no apps like this
for android or iOS which can translate calls or messages as quickly and as
easily as Droid Translator,” according to the Droid Translator Deputy Sales Director
Bogdan Bokchovyi.

The app was created by 35 year-old Kyiv-based
entrepreneur Alexander Konovalov, who founded the cutting-edge company Technology
Improves the World (TIW) in May. According to Konovalov, Droid Translator is
the world’s first VoIP-service which automatically translates your messages and
conversations in up to 14 major languages. “In Skype there is a function of
interpretation, but it works as a conference call with a live interpreter and
costs $3
per minute,” Konovalov said.

The current beta version of Droid Translator is free
and available on Google Play, with live translations of multilingual
conversations taking up to just 45 seconds. When asked whether he thought the app would rival other VoIP devices such
as Skype, Viber or Google Hangouts, Bokchovyi said that Droid Translator is
first and foremost a translation tool, and is not meant to compete with those
tools.

“It simply works alongside
other services as well as performing its own communicative possibilities,” he
said. “This is more sophistic than a fact: suddenly users of Skype may abandon
it and start using (Droid Translator), but that is not our mission. We want to
let them speak without borders!”

Since its release on June 26th, the app has been
downloaded 20,000 times. Konovalov expects the number of downloads to soar to
100,000 by September. In comparison to other VoIP services on the market, the
number of Skype downloads on the Ukrainian Google Play market has reached 1.22
million, and the number for Viber has reached 1.78 million.

An important advantage of Droid Translator is its
ability to synchronize all of your existing Skype contacts, saving you from
having to re-register a new account. It can also record any multilingual
conversations or conference calls.

By August the company hopes to create a version for
iOS. Long term aims of TIW include writing an application for PCs, improving
the stability of existing applications and adding at least 12 new languages. When
the full version of the app is available, Konovalov plans to charge users $5
for the service.

Droid Translator is not Konovalov’s only technological innovation. He plans
to offer an automatic simultaneous translator in the form of a USB stick soon.

“It is a USB-stick that is connected to the USB or
mini-USB port of the phone or tablet PC and serves for the translation of calls
within other VoIP services,” he explained.

The device is slated to be released in October and
will cost $15-$18. Last year Konovalov
received a patent to design a new form of voice control in mobile phones,
similar to Siri used by Apple.

Alongside Droid Translator, the TIW team is also working
on a number of other projects including “Funny Finch” – an Android game – and a
RSS reader with voice control called HandsFree news. Other projects in the
fields of healthcare and personal safety are currently in the works, Konovalov
said.

Kyiv Post intern Isabel Douglas-Hamilton can be
reached at [email protected].