Whether it's Optimus Prime or the Daleks from Doctor Who, most robots have the same monotonous, automated voice. But research suggests certain groups of people might prefer it if they used a familiar accent or dialect. A study has found that speaking in a local accent can - in certain circumstances - make robots seem more trustworthy and competent. Scientists from the University of Potsdam, in Germany, recruited 120 people living in either Berlin or Brandenburg to take an online survey. They asked participants to watch videos in which a robot using a male human voice spoke either in standard German or the Berlin dialect, which is considered working-class.

Until now, using Google Translate on your iPhone has meant listening to the same pronunciation for translations no matter where you live. That's not very considerate, and potentially a problem if you live in countries where foreign accents could make comprehension difficult. You won't have that issue from now on -- an update to Google Translate has added speech output in local versions of multiple languages, including English, Bengali, French and Spanish. You can hear English results with an Indian accent, for instance, or listen to French with a Canadian spin. Android has included these speech options for a while.