skype

Skype users, get ready to say “bonjour” to the future of international communication. People who want to get their conversations instantly translated into other languages by Microsoft’s video chat software now have a chance to sign up for an early preview of the tech.

Skype Translator was announced at Re/code’s Code Conference earlier this year, and allows different conversation partners to talk in their language of choice and then have their voice translated in real time. It’s not clear how well it will end up working in the wild, but this preview should help Microsoft refine its service. Here’s a video that shows how it works:

The preview will come with support for only a handful of languages, though Skype said that the on-boarding process will include a questionnaire that asks people what languages they want to have translated, and the company will work to make the most popular options available.

Right now, the preview is only open to people using Windows 8.1 computers and tablets, and Microsoft said that there are only a limited number of slots for those people who have qualifying hardware.

People interested in signing up for the preview can do so here.

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