Starting today, Alexa can translate conversations between two people who speak different languages. At launch, the digital assistant's new Live Translation feature works on Echo devices in the US and supports translation between English and French, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish or Brazilian Portuguese. To start using the feature, ask Alexa to serve as an interpreter for the language that the person you want to talk to speaks. As the two of you converse, Alexa will automatically identify the person who's taking and translate as needed. If you own an Echo Show, you'll see a visual translation in addition to hearing an audio one.

When travelling abroad, it can be difficult to communicate with those who don't speak the same language as you. But thankfully, the days of having to quickly flick through your translation dictionary could soon be a thing of the past. A technology firm has launched a new earpiece called One2One which translates spoken conversations within seconds. The incredible earpiece, which is powered by IBM Watson's artificial intelligence system, will hit global markets next month. The device supports translations across eight languages – English, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German and Chinese.