Facebook is up to something, but it’s hard to figure out what. Zuckerberg and co. have just agreed to purchase Mobile Technologies, a start-up that’s responsible for the development of speech recognition and machine translation technology. Boasting of having created the ‘world’s first speech-to-speech translator’ in the form of the Jibbigo app, it is even responsible for the design of the first automatic, simultaneous interpretation service aimed at lectures.
The financials of the deal that involves Facebook buying Mobile Technologies have been kept under covers, but it has been mentioned that the process hasn’t closed as yet. Founded in 2001, the company conveyed through a post on its official site that once the deal is through, most of its employees will be moving to Menlo Park, the headquarters of Facebook.
Jibbigo, the tool which Mobile Technologies has developed, is claimed to help travelers from around the globe communicate easily in foreign countries. Moreover, health-care workers on humanitarian missions have also reportedly utilized the benefits of this app.
Tom Stocky, who’s the director of product management over at Facebook, has said that it has been the site’s ‘mission to make the world more open and connected.’ He has even mentioned that the social network giant is currently looking for more ways to help connect the world as well. And hence, the voice technology expertise from its newly acquired asset becomes an important aspect for it.
Stocky however stopped short of revealing how exactly Facebook wishes to do integrate these voice utilities with its current services. So for now, we’ll have to wait and watch it seems.