New Google earbuds offer real-time translation of conversations - including Chinese

Google on Wednesday introduced new Pixel ear buds that the company says are capable of real-time translation of conversations in different languages - including Chinese.

A demonstration given as Google unveiled a host of new products infused with its digital “Assistant” smarts got people playfully referring to Pixel Buds as an internet-Age version of alien “Babel Fish” depicted in famed science fiction work The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

In the literature, inserting a Babel Fish in an ear enabled a person to understand anything spoken in any language.

Pixel Buds, synched to freshly-introduced second-generation Pixel smartphones, promised real-time translations of conversations involving any of 40 languages. “Chinese” is listed among the supported languages, without specifying whether that is Mandarin, Cantonese or another dialect.

A demonstration at the event included a two-way conversation with one person speaking English and the other Swedish.

“That was one of the best tech demos I’ve seen in a long time,” said Current Analysis consumer devices research director Avi Greengart.