The Intergraph Software Solutions subsidiary of Intergraph Corp has expanded the capabilities of its Transcend natural language translator. The software, which runs under Microsoft Corp’s Windows, translates text from one language to another, and back again in some cases; it is integrated into Word. The package now translates English into German and the other way round, English to Italian and English to Portugese, bringing to eight the number of directions available. It is mostly used to translate electronic mail and other documents, and the Huntsville, Alabama company even claims that it is used by a Texas rancher to communicate somewhat long-windedly with his Spanish-speaking ranch hand. Transcend works by interpreting the structure of sentences in the source language and translating based on the target language’s grammar. Users can add to the vocabulary and alter the way the program translates. A filter has been added to version 1.1 that enables it to integrate into Novell Inc’s WordPerfect 6.0. A scaled-down version with a reduced dictionary and reduced abilities to build the dictionary is also available. Shipping now, Transcend 1.1 costs $500 for one-way translation and $800 for the bi-directional version. Prices in the UK are ú100 for the cut-down version, ú350 for the single- and ú600 for bi-directional version.
