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Zoom acquires startup Kites as it eyes real-time translation for video

Last week Microsoft confirmed that Teams would be integrated into Windows 11 as the company look to become the dominant videoconferencing player during the work from home era. Right now, that crown belongs to Zoom and now the platform which surged in popularity during the early months of the pandemic is looking to add new features to its suite.

This as it confirmed the acquisition of a startup called kites, GmbH (Kites). What makes the acquisition notable is that Kites focuses on developing real-time Machine Translation (MT) solutions.

Once the ink has dried on the deal, the team of 12 research scientists at Kites will be help Zoom’s engineering team develop its own MT solutions as the platform looks to improve meetings by providing multi-language translation capabilities.

“We are continuously looking for new ways to deliver happiness to our users and improve meeting productivity, and MT solutions will be key in enhancing our platform for Zoom customers across the globe,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of Product and Engineering at Zoom regarding the acquisition.

“With our aligned missions to make collaboration frictionless – regardless of language, geographic location, or other barriers – we are confident Kites’ impressive team will fit right in with Zoom,” he added.

When such real-time multi-language translation features are added to the mix for Zoom, it could prove a real game changer for the platform.

Given that many international events that were once in-person are now fully virtual or hybrid, being able to have attendees and delegates from across the globe join a session and listen in while have real-time translation would certainly give Zoom an advantage over other offerings.

No timeline has been outlined for the MT solution integration, but it is certainly one element of Zoom worth keeping tabs on as the battle lines for videoconferencing apps is being drawn.

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