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Gmail updates: good news for globalists, bad news for drunks
Ever used Gmail's automatic message translation feature, which lets you receive and send emails without even bothering to notice the native language of your contact? If not, that's probably because it's been lurking in the Labs section along with other ideas undergoing live experimentation. As of now though, translation should be right there in front of you as a regular feature, and honestly, it brings a whole new life to foreign spam. Meanwhile, other Lab features have been sacked, such as the Old Snakey time-frittering game and also Mail Goggles, which tested your sobriety with math puzzles before letting you click 'Send' in the wee hours of the morning. Ah well, the best labs are often the least crowded.
Kenwood's still making Media Kegs, announces bilingual MG-G608 for the Japanese market
We've been covering Kenwood's Media Kegs since the dawn of Engadget, and though we haven't seen one in awhile, there's no question this line of MP3 players is still alive and kicking. The company just debuted the MG-G608 for the Japanese market with a bilingual UI, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, and one neon chassis. Otherwise, you might find its specs -- namely, a small 2-inch display, lack of video playback, and a modest 8GB of storage -- a bit ho-hum. To be fair, it does support microSD cards as large as 16GB, though even then, you might prefer 32GB, depending on how expansive your Hatsune Miku collection is. Japanese and English speakers alike can pick one up in Japan next month for ¥15,000 ($183).
Jibbigo iPhone app translates from English to Spanish and back again
Jibbigo is a recently released iPhone app which promises to help you out the next time you're desperately trying to make yourself understood by your Spanish-speaking compadres. The app is capable of recording a sentence and translating it -- essentially in real time -- back to you. As you can see in the screencap above, you can speak either Spanish or English, and the translator will do its work, displaying both your original and a translation into the other language. The dictionary contains about 40,000 words, and the app is aimed at travelers. Jibbigo also requires the iPhone 3GS to make use of the bi-directional translation tools, and the app also reportedly functions a heck of a lot slower on anything other than the 3G. The app is available now for $24.99. [Via, iPodnn]
Funcom hiring community managers, CS reps
Funcom is hiring for seven Age of Conan-related positions -- three in Europe, and four in the United States. The European opportunities are all "community coordinator" positions, and bilingual candidates are preferred. If you're looking for work in the United States, you can apply for one of Funcom's customer service positions. The Durham, NC office seeks CS reps in the English, French, German, or Spanish languages.Funcom is facing some serious community and customer service issues right now, such as exploits and ensuing bans. We don't doubt that the current staff is overwhelmed by all that's going on. Bringing in reinforcements is probably a good call.
Gyakuten Saiban 3 to include English translation
Recently, Capcom announced the third game in the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series, Trials and Tribulations, was being localized for North America. Just like previous Gyakuten Saiban releases in Japan, native English brains won't be the only ones to benefit from the translation. Gyakuten Saiban 3 will be re-released in Japan as a budget title (approximately $25) with both the original Japanese and the English built-in. Fancy-pants importers can use this to score a copy of the game a month before its September North American release.
Chicago signing for Uematsu, Aki, & Roth tonight
Are you in Chicago tonight for the big PLAY! concert tomorrow, but weren't willing to shell out $125 for the VIP meet-and-greet at the event? Well, you might be in luck (even if you're not attending), as a few famous folks from the concert will be on hand to sign autographs in Chicago proper for free tonight.From 7 to 9 PM (presumably Central time) at the Tower Records store on 2301 N. Clark St., Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, bilingual songstress Angela Aki (who wrote and sang the theme song for FFXII), and Principal Conductor and Music Director of PLAY! Arnie Roth will be signing autographs to promote the world-tour premiere of 'PLAY! A Video Game Symphony' and the CD for More Friends - Music from FINAL FANTASY.While this blogger is sadly occupied with prior engagements tonight, gamers in the area are more than welcome to mob that Tower Records and cause the store's employees much consternation and bewilderment. If you don't have any imported CDs to sign, however, don't fret: the store's web site claims to have "some awesome Japanese imports available for you to purchase and have autographed at the event." Not only that, Angela Aki will be performing live as well. Score! Anybody wanna tell us how this evening turns out when it's all sung and done?[Via The Daily Northwestern; image culled from Angela Aki's blog, Nobuo Uematsu's Squenix profile, and Arnie Roth's 2005 interview with IGN]See also: Official page for Tower Clark Street (with details on the signing) Ticketmaster site for the PLAY! concert debut tomorrow Sonic and Chrono composers to join PLAY! in Chicago
