NEC said Friday it has created a world-first real-time translator on a cellphone, which can instantly turn Japanese travellers' words into English. One second after the phone hears speech in Japanese, the cellphone with the new technology shows the text on the screen. One second later, an English version appears.

NEC said it was the first time in the world that automatic translation is available on a cellphone without external help.

The company made it possible by making the software, which includes a voice-recognition system and translation functions, compact enough to operate on a small microchip mounted in a cellphone, it said.

It is technically possible to make the English translation vocal but NEC is not considering the idea at the moment, according to NEC spokesman Mitsumasa Fukumoto.