Search engine giant Google is developing the first phone capable of instantly translating spoken word.

The new phone will be able to automatically translate any language instantly for the caller on the other end of the line. Similar to the Babel fish invention used in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this new phone will build on already existing voice recognition technology used by Google and could, eventually, completely break down any language barrier.

The company has already created a translator system online for text which can translate up to 52 languages, including Haitian Creole which was added shortly after the Port au Prince earthquake. However, this system is rarely used for business and tends to frustrate when a large, lengthy document needs translation as many colloquial terms are lost. 

Google also created a voice recognition system, which allows the user to start and navigate through web searches by voice commands only.

A combination of the two technologies will be used in this phone and aims to eradicate the mistranslation problems completely and has the potential to eliminate the need for in person translation or interpreters.

Noelle Brick, Principal Lecturer at Kingston University in French, English and Communications said: “The new service will be a good thing” but said it was unlikely to affect the number of applicants applying for language courses.

“After their degree, our language students opt for all sorts of careers or jobs and not many of our students are actually planning to work as translators or interpreters.”

However language students are concerned about  the impacts this new tool could have on future job prospects.

One first year student studying Spanish said: “I don’t know what I want to do in the future, but with something like this, it kind of eliminates any need to study a language.”

She added: “If a machine can do the job for you, a business is not going to hire someone to do it. I hope it isn’t as effective as a human for the job.”

The phone is due to be launched in 2012 and Google aims for it to translate up to 6,000 languages.