Will the iPhone put Hoshi out of a job? Probably not, but it may be a good fallback in case you don’t have your own linguistics expert with you on your next international trip. A company called Vocre has come up with a new iPhone app that will translate your spoken word and your conversational partner’s, audibly, and allow you to have a two way conversation with someone who speaks a different language.

So far they say it works with any language in any country, and while that description technically doesn’t exclude alien life forms, we’re guessing that it will be a while before you can have a translated conversation with a Tamarian.

The idea is very simple—you select your gender and the gender of the person you're speaking with, along with your native language and theirs. Then your turn your iPhone upside down, say what you want to say, and Vocre will recognize it almost instantly. If the text looks right to you, just flip the phone on its side and it will actually speak what you said to the person you're talking to in their language. For example, if I spoke something in English the app could then repeat it in Spanish, French, Chinese, and more. While the translations aren't instant and you do have to flip your phone around a lot (which is admittedly a little annoying), it performs phenomenally well and would be remarkably useful as a translator in a variety of situations.

This is apparently just the beginning for Vocre. The developers hope to eventually make it capable of translating what you say in near real time, while you're on a call. That would be pretty incredible. For now, though, you can try out ten translations for free. To continue using Vocre you'll need to pay about 10 cents per translation (with discounts for buying in bulk).

Here’s a video from Vocre showing the app in action.

(Source; Lifehacker, and Thanks to John for the lead)