Skype Translator is one of those technologies that makes you stop and say “woah, future.” A mythical service that can translate your speech in seamless real time, with accompanying transcripts, could eventually surmount the language barrier. But until then, we have Skype Translator, and it’s a great start.


We took a look at Skype Translator in an advanced preview, and since then, the gates to this translation wonder have remained locked up behind a slow-rollout invite process. Well, no longer. Everyone can now try Skype Translator—with live translating for English, Spanish, Italian, and Mandarin—to your heart’s desire. Have an abuela in South America or a conversation partner in Chongqing? Call ‘em, and connect. It’s not exactly as fluid as talking natively on the phone, but building the future of how we communicate is slow work. [Skype]