The whole premise of this product, which is £199 from Selfridges, is the fact that you can do quick one-way translations without the need for an internet connection. It’s already proved successful in Japan and the US, with 10,000 orders received in the first three days.
It’s a travel accessory that translate English into three other languages – Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese in as little as 0.2 seconds.
We should mention, however, that apps like Google Translate have had an offline mode for a while now, and they’ll translate in both directions for you too…
Plus, with everyone in the EU enjoying cheap roaming we’re now familiar with having data enabled anyway. If you’re somewhere else and don’t want to use data then yes, with the likes of Google Translate there is a certain amount of prep work – you need to ensure that you’ve downloaded the offline translation before you need it.
The people behind the product tell me..
During testing, 80% of travellers using ili preferred to use the device as a one-way translator finding it helped to avoid unnecessary back-and-forth miscommunication.
So yes, just to be clear, this will only let you translate your English into Spanish, Japanese or Mandarin. You won’t be able to translate, for example, what the Spanish taxi driver responds to you with.
It weighs just 42g and can be worn around the neck or you can put it in your pocket. Head to their website for more infromation