Translation software firms said at CeBit in Hannover that they are hoping that as the Internet makes the world ever smaller, it will also make their market ever bigger. Company executives say they expect the translation software market, already worth around $100m a year, to expand to become a multi-billion dollar industry in the next few years. However, companies such as Pink Software Pty Ltd from South Africa, Accent Software International Ltd from Jerusalem, and Germany’s HEI-Soft AG recognize that the programs are just tools, and translations need to be checked – a literal translation of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s surname for example, would be rendered as Chancellor cabbage.
