The application is extremely intuitive – the user simply navigates to the appropriate phrase in English that they would like translated and presses ‘select’. The application then speaks the phrase in the foreign language through the consumer’s phone, in real time and provides an additional text translation on screen. The phrase is delivered perfectly in the foreign language as the developers used native-language speakers in the creation of the phrase books.
This application enables operators to add value to business users as well as consumers as the application is equally suited to business customers who travel abroad and consumers on holiday. The applications are also ideal for generating repeat purchases, as users pay for one language at a time, ie the English/French translator as one download and the English/Spanish translator as another.
The applications are available for English-speakers to communicate in six foreign languages: French, Spanish, German, Greek, Italian and Portuguese. Each version has between 250 – 300 sound files covering all elements of their foreign experience including Eating, Travel and Emergencies. Later this year more talking phrase books will be launched including multiple versions communicating from one non-English language to another, eg French to Italian.
Mark McCulloch, Head of Brand Development at lastminute.com added: “This is truly a break through in being smart on holiday. Instead of you having to flick through the pages of a phrase book to find what you want to say, you simply click your phone menu, select the phrase you need and voila!”
“It also helps with your pronunciation and ensures you are understood, which will hopefully put an end to being embarrassed to try out your language skills when on holiday and help you have a more enriching holiday experience.” concluded McCulloch.
Roy Forsdick, of developer CoolGorilla, said: “The lastminute.com mobile phone phrasebooks are unique in the marketplace – no other application delivers voice translations such as these. The mobile phone is the perfect platform for people to use this sort of application as people carry their mobiles with them at all times. In fact it makes such intuitive sense for people to use talking phrasebooks on their mobile phone that I am amazed no-one has developed anything like this before.”
