Korean mobile carrier offers pet translator service

Sure, in Japan, they can decode babyspeak — but the Koreans have one-upped them by unraveling the great mysteries of your dog's emotions — and sending them to you in SMS format, natch. South Korean dog owners can now have their pets bark into the phone (no, really, that's how it works) and get a text message back with the results of the "translation." Provided by KTF, Korea's second largest carrier, the service can decipher the inner states of 55 different breeds — which apparently only run the gamut of 6 emotions: happy, sad, cheerful, needy, threatened and assertive. We're pretty sure they were using a prototype of this system back when they were filming Lassie, which finally answers your deep-seated childhood question: "How did Timmy know?"

[Asher @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I hope the first thing this thing says your pet is saying is: "You're a dumbass."

[lupinstel @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

I like talking funny and having wierd phrases just as much as anybody, but I can not deal with you saying "natch". I had to look up its meaning when I first saw it months ago, and I still can not read it without wincing. Please promise to break up the "natch"s with "naturally", "obviously", "of course", or even an early 90's "duh" or the duh variant, "dur". You may continue with all of your other neologisms and phrases.

[tman @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

"Sure, in Japan, they can decode babyspeak � but the Koreans have one-upped them by unraveling the great mysteries of your dog�s emotions "

What. You guy's haven't heard of the bowlingual? (http://www.bowlingual-translator.com/)

[JSP @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

it must be nice to have pretty much everything i want on my cellphone/service that the only remaining services to add are things like this.
my dog wants to talk to me on a cell phone too.
they should have a service that translates speech to dog. now that would unite the dog & human world like never before.

[t @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

wonder if there is a secret bark recognition for 'most tender'?

[Tom @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

when questioned the dog said "Please don't eat me lady"

[Lars Cosh-Ishii @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Wireless Watch Japan shot the video (at link below) of Takara's Bow-Lingual app. which came stock loaded on the Vodafone V601SH handset here in Tokyo.. way back Feb. 2004:
http://www.wirelesswatch.jp/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=587

Cheers,

Lars.

[TestType @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Yeah, I've had the 601SH for about a year now, with bow-lingual and all.
Of course Engadget can't be all-knowing but it's funny when you see news here about over a year old technology, sometimes even several years old like in the case of the solar watches a few days ago.

[Will @ Dec 19th 2005 1:21AM]

Gee, this is completely rip-off of "bowlingual".
Engadget. Ignoring baby-translator and introducing Korean copies are really shameful.