Ortsbo, a web-based language translator, has unveiled a platform-agnostic service able to integrate with more than a dozen social media networks to provide instant translation in more than 50 languages. The free service is currently available on both MACs and PCs. An upcoming version for HTML and HTML5 is currently under development to accommodate a larger web presence, the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as other mobile handsets and computer devices.
The service is built on Microsoft’s Silverlight platform: Ortsbo requires no software to install on either the sender’s or recipient’s end, as long as Silverlight is already in place. Users simply indicate the desired language for their intended recipient and Ortsbo does the rest. Multiple chat sessions across multiple social networks in multiple languages can be conducted simultaneously in real time.
The most prevalent of those language choices are likely to be Chinese and Spanish, according to David Lucatch, president of Ortsbo. Despite the proliferation of English on the Internet, speakers whose first language is one of those two outnumber English speakers by more than 60 million.