ReadWriteWeb — If our attempts at getting such simple information as bus schedules or account balances from automated voice recognition systems are any indication, then we imagine Google has a lot of work to do in its latest endeavor - real-time, spoken-language translation. According to the Times UK , Google is working on developing software for a mobile phone that would translate ... more what you were saying into the language of the speaker on the other end of the line and vice versa. Sponsor As you may have noticed, Google already has a hand in the translation business, with its web page translation service. Google Translate currently translates between 52 languages, which includes a number of languages with completely different alphabets. The Times UK spoke with Franz Och, head of Google's translation services, who said that this new service should be up and running and "work reasonably well in a few years' time." "Everyone has a different voice, accent and pitch," said Och. "But recognition should be effective with mobile phones because by nature they are personal to you." Och is referring to the fact that the software would have the opportunity to learn your accent, dialect and general manner of speaking over time, becoming more accurate. But we can only imagine the difficulty of the task ahead, especially with languages such as Mandarin or Cantonese, which are tonally based. In Mandarin, for example, the word "ma" can have four different meanings according to the tone used. If the speaker uses the first tone, a constant high pitch, then the word means "mother". If they use the third tone, a dropping then rising pitch, however, the meaning changes to "horse". The fun doesn't stop there, the Times UK article points out, as handling the vast number of accents and dialects is also an immense task. Much like the web-based translation that Google does, though, the system would become more accurate over time, essentially learning from its experience. We hope that one of the first thing...

ReadWriteWeb — According to 4chan's Twitter account and status update blog, they have been "explicitly blocked" by the Verizon Network. If you're unfamiliar with 4chan and why an ISP/wireless company would block it, read more about it on Wikipedia . The high-traffic image board of mostly anonymous users was created by Christopher Poole in 2003 and has been the subject ... more of a fair amount of negative media and legal attention over the past 7 years. But why would Verizon choose to block the site now? Does this put Verizon on par with foreign ISPs that block torrent sites and social networks? Or is there more to the story? Sponsor Poole wrote this afternoon, "Over the past 72 hours, we've been receiving reports from Verizon Wireless customers having difficulty accessing the image boards. After investigating, we found that Verizon is dropping traffic... only on port 80 (HTTP). No other subdomain/IP/port is affected, which leads us to believe this block is intentional." However, a couple hours ago, Poole posted, "After an hour and a half on the phone, we've received confirmation from Verizon's Network Repair Bureau (NRB) that we are 'explicitly blocked.'" In the past , we've held a generally negative view of ISP censorship and traffic-shaping , regardless of site content. It'll be interesting to see how this battle shapes up, as Poole is calling for 4chan users to file complaints with Verizon's Network Repair Bureau. We are contacting Verizon to figure out specifically why the site is being blocked and will update this post as more information becomes available. Discuss

Mashable! — Location-based service Loopt is going to offer deals at venues and stores near you thanks to a partnership with Mobile Spinach . Mobile Spinach has already built up a large database of exclusive deals at venues ranging from sushi restaurants to concert halls to clothing stores. Currently, it serves San Francisco by texting users with deal notifications, but the ... more partnership with Loopt will make the process that much more effective. Loopt and Mobile Spinach plan to offer deals in New York and Los Angeles “during the coming months,” too. This advertising model is kind of a no-brainer. A neighborhood business can use a service like Loopt to target someone who lives or works nearby and offer him or her incentives to visit an establishment. These offers can be redeemed by phone or optionally via e-mail or text message. Foursquare already struck a deal with 8coupons , which does something very similar to what Mobile Spinach does. Yelp offers local deals, too, so this seems to be the model de jour. We’ll have to wait and see how successful this venture is, but as we noted the other day , there’s untapped potential for using check-in data to learn more about what consumers like and offering them appropriate ads and deals. Reviews: Foursquare , Yelp Tags: location-based , loopt , MARKETING , mobile spinach , money

VentureBeat — In what will surely be a common trend over the next few years to take advantage of China’s growing population of media consumers, Reuters is reporting that a Disney-led consortium is in talks to buy a portion of China’s largest in-bus media firm, Bus Online. Google is a part of the consortium — even as they are currently seeking out the NSA’s ... more help to deal with their recent security breach in China. According to anonymous sources, the consortium is planning to buy a portion between 30 and 40 percent of Bus Online for more than $100 million through “a purchase of old and new shares to be issued by the company in private placements.” The sources went on to say that Disney “wants to be a strategic partner not just a financial investor” in Bus Online due to the company’s increased presence in China — like the upcoming Shanghai-based Disney theme park. Google is aiming for a smaller stake in the deal than Disney. It’s interesting that the company is still pursuing the arrangement given their recent spat with China. This seems to be yet another example of Google pursuing a “business first” objective that they may get flack for down the line — just like their initial search censorship agreement with the Chinese government. According to Reuters, Bus Online is China’s top in-bus digital media and advertising company with a $46.07 million 2009 revenue. It has received $80 million in funding since 2004 from “venture capital funds and banks including IDG, Yangtze Fund, China Renaissance Capital Investment and CCB International.” The company is the exclusive in-bus media content and advertising provider for China Central Television (CCTV) and the Xinhua news agency. We haven’t yet seen the same rise of in-bus media in the US, but it is finally beginning to pop up in domestic air travel more frequently. Upstarts like Bolt Bus and Mega Bus — both of which are also subsidiaries of larger bus companies — already offer Wi-Fi and other premium features, and would also be prime real ...

TechCrunch — Vitamin D Video has officially gone out of beta and is now available in 1.0. The basic, single camera version of the software is available now for free while a two camera version costs $49 and unlimited cameras costs $199. The software watches a web-based camera - including many popular models from Linksys and D-Link - and records motion as it it happens, even ... more alerting you when humans step into the frame. I've been using the beta for months now with a Linksys WVC54GCA and I consider the software an early warning system for the home. Since I work up in the attic I can't always tell if I'm facing a friend or a foe at the front door so I rely on Vitamin D to ping whenever someone comes into the frame. Special motion sensing systems also pick up lights and other activity outside while the system can also email clips to a mailbox whenever an event occurs or ring a chime.

Mashable! — EA Sports President Peter Moore told Bloomberg that the popular Madden NFL series of football video games will make its way to Facebook . We haven’t heard a peep about a launch date. Moore says we will definitely see Madden on the Facebook platform, but the social media version will be simpler than its console cousins, because EA wants to “make Madden ... more more accessible.” Facebook games are a big deal these days. FarmVille and Mafia Wars developer Zynga just raised $180 million in funding . The news that established (but more niche) long-time video game franchise Civilization is coming to Facebook this summer has gotten a lot of press and interest, too. More presciently, EA just bought a huge Facebook game company called Playfish for $400 million. The quote from Moore about EA’s Madden plans didn’t mention Playfish, but it’s possible that the acquired company’s resources will be used to develop and publish Madden on Facebook. EA launched Madden NFL 2010 for the video game consoles just in time for the Super Bowl , so hype for the brand is already high right now. This was a good time for the company to let this news slip out. Reviews: Facebook Tags: ea sports , facebook , football , games , madden , nfl , online games , sports , video games

TechCrunch — On the heels of the EU’s approval of Oracle’s $7.4 billion deal to acquire Sun Microsystems, the tech giant has opened up the purse strings to acquire application management software provider AmberPoint. Terms of the deal were not disclosed and the acquisition is expected to close in the first half of this year. AmberPoint’s software helps organizations ... more diagnose and resolve issues in application performance and business transactions, such as insurance claims processing or account provisioning where multiple applications need to work together. AmberPoint’s software will be folded into Oracle’s Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) offerings. Oracle says that the addition of AmberPoint’s software will help diagnose and manage the performance of business applications, provide monitoring for application performance and will enrich SOA design time with run-time metrics for SOA governance. CrunchBase Information Oracle Corporation Information provided by CrunchBase