“The U.S. military went into Iraq with few troops able to speak Arabic. Now they can use their iPods to do the talking for them. A new software product, VCommunicator Mobile, and a speaker than plugs into where the ear buds go, enables troops to quickly access a library of phrases. There is also a set of protective covers for the iPod and speaker, with Velcro straps so that you can attach both to your arm,” James Dunnigan reports for StrategyPage.
“If all this sounds very soldier-friendly, that’s because the product was designed with the help of troops from the 10th Mountain division, who have been using 260 of these specially equipped iPods for the last year. This cost the army $800,000, and included language modules for Iraqi Arabic (it’s a distinct dialect) and Kurdish (an Indo-European language spoken in the north). There are also modules for languages spoken in Afghanistan (Dari and Pushto). Over 700 troops are using the device in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Dunnigan reports.
“The army has also provided a solar recharger for the iPods of troops spending a lot of time out in the hills of Afghanistan,” Dunnigan reports.
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “BigMac” for the heads up.]
God Bless our troops!
But once I have all that language crap on my iPod, is there room for my Van Halen collection?
God Bless our troops! Ditto.
I hope they have sand colored earbuds.
So, there really is a mission accomplished. Nice.
“The surge isn’t going to work either tactically or strategically.” – Joe Biden on President Bush’s Iraq troop surge plan, June 22, 2007, Boston Globe
The Iraqi troop surge has turned out to be wildly successful.
McCain should use Biden’s quote daily until the election.
“McCain should use Biden’s quote daily until the election.”
Take it somewhere else.
But the language packs are crazy expensive, like $2000/language PER iPOD. It doesn’t take much to reach that $800,000 value.
The military version of the iPod is available at the Apple store for $1.5 million (U.S. Store only)
Obama Biden 2008 = Obama Bin Laden 2008
Hey, I set my house on fire and sort of put the fire out with Water. They said it wouldn’t work!!!
The new water surge is wildly successful! … at putting out a house fire that I started. oops.
Is there no end to the usefulness of Apple’s iPod?
what a stupid sh!t
Wordsmith,
Bend over while I punt, dweeb.
dirt bag smears only get you so far. Obama was right on the war. Iraq had nothing to do with 911. A trillion $$ and hundred of thousands of INNOCENT human lives lost. Great job W. POS. Where is BinLaden ? Oh yeah we are still smokin him out you CONservative nut sacks.
Wordsmith would vote for bush again if he could, oh wait, he can. McCain=four more years of bush bull. Bite it boy.
Iraq had nothing to do with 911. A trillion $$ and hundred of thousands of INNOCENT human lives lost.
Where do you get your info? Rosie O’Dingbat?
Yeesh, it’s like there is zero brains left in Americans
hundred of thousands of INNOCENT human lives
that would be who exactly?
Wouldn’t this VCommunicator Mobile be a LOT more useful on the iPhone (if it isn’t available already)?
You idiots and your ‘blinkered philistine pig ignorance” make me sick.
Excellent!
And to Macromancer: STUFF IT where the sun doesn’t shine!
(Obama is another democrat liar; he’s the .07 version)
Yeah, sure great Biden quote. How about you stick it up your ass with this McCain quote:
“I believe that the success [in Iraq] will be fairly easy.” Oct. 2002.
Or how about:
“Our technology, particularly air-to-ground technology, is vastly improved,” McCain told CNN’s Larry King on Dec. 9, 2002. “I don’t think you’re going to have to see the scale of numbers of troops that we saw, nor the length of the buildup, obviously, that we had back in 1991.
Or how about:
“I have no qualms about our strategic plans,” he told the Hartford Courant in a March 5 article, just before the invasion. “I thought we were very successful in Afghanistan.”
Or from June 2003:
“I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process,” he told Fox News on June 11. “But the conflict, the major conflict is over … The regime change is accomplished.”
Personally I’ll stick with the guy at the top of Biden’s ticket, who stated in October 2002:
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.
So tell me, who was the most on target when it mattered–BEFORE we put undermannned, underequipped troops in harm’s way? Yeah, that’s right–the black guy.
On CNN, the DNC convention panel, all have Dells (OF COURSE), except Carl Bernstein.
Looks like a G4 powerbook?
No- I think it’s a macbook pro.
Wow, McCain is going down.
80k, soon to be 90k people in the mile-high stadium.
I wonder what the RNC’s convention will look like.
Probably not as many people, as the facility will obviously have to be able to accommodate a massive amount of wheelchairs.
DNC had Cheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder.
I “wonder” who the RNC will get?
Ooohh! I know.
I’ll bet ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCT.
@OpJ,
Ouch.
wow… you guys are in rare form tonight! we have become sooo much more polarized thanks to Rush and Papa Bear…
as with most things the truth is somewhere in the middle…
a war led by an evangelical Christian could only be seen by the Sons of Mohamed as another Crusade… on the other hand, if the entire ‘civilized’ world took a strong stand maybe the militants (and everyone else) would Moderate their behavior… hello? UN?…
(note to diplomats: more fixy World thingy, less Rock star!)
(note to republicans: if you are worth less than $20m you are NOT in the Club…. Tools!)
We honor and respect those in harms way…
but also know there’s room on there iPod for the language software and one more thing:
http://www.dailytunes.com/songs/20031029162331.html
Always
I forgot, does the convention’s popularity pick the President?
Wow, did you just hear what Obama just said during his “big speech”?
“John McCain likes to say he’ll follow Bin Laden to the gates of hell. HE WON’T EVEN FOLLOW HIM TO THE CAVE WHERE HE LIVES!”
Gotta admit, that’s true.
Say, what ARE we in Iraq for?
I THAT were Osama Bin Laden is?
TT-
no.
Hot damn, that had to be the best speech I’ll ever hear in my life. There can never be anything that will top it.
R2,
You’re obviously a chiropractor’s dream: extremely easy to manipulate.
You must be under 25 and therefore witless.
If you’re over 25, I apologize in advance for making fun of the retarded.
AR
Thanks. However, I am looking forward to that night and Engelbert singing me to sleep “after the lovin”……
TT-
… According to the most recent RNC press release, conventioneers will be treated to country music acts such as Brooks & Dunn, Lee Ann Womack, Darryl Worley, and Donnie McClurkin. They’ll be joining Michael W. Smith, Daniel Rodriguez, Daize Shayne, Sara Evans, and Dana Glover on the podium,
I think they should have zz top.
R2: “Hot damn, that had to be the best speech I’ll ever hear in my life. There can never be anything that will top it.”
I’m glad I missed it then I’m now certain I would have hated every second of it.
Ok… so the iPod can blast out arabic phrases for the troops. I love iPods, but does anyone else see the small flaw in this technology? Does the iPod have a new translation input module that allows the troops to understand the arabic that’s spoken back to them?
Well, AR, looks like there will be plenty of ‘zzzzs’ without the Top.
(Unless they bring out the Motor City Madman)
No offense to those listed, but if your gonna do country, give me Merle, Dwight, and Possum, or give me death!
(sorry, Obama’s inspiration got me carried away there…)
Please. This thing’s in MN.
Rumors say the feature act will be the You Betchas, with their polka music and homemade lefse.
Excellent. News. Let’s hope it’ll stop em acting like trigger happy cowboys and gunning down friendly allies during battle. If only they had brains as well as guns and money behind their actions.
Just think what the AENUS terrorists like Lyndie England could have done with that sort of technology in the Abu Ghraib prison. We all remember Lyndie of course the pride and joy of the AENUS army.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynndie_England
twilightmoon, I can understand how folks pointing out the flaws of someone you feel obligated to favor can cause deep angst. Translated – that you would have hated the speech.
I’m anti-Taliban (too much like rabid Republicans) and anti-AlQuaida, but FOR the war in Afghanistan while against the war in Iraq. It’s all about values.
I also support our troops – like with the promised health care McCain would deny them.
As for cheap attacks like “he’s really a Muslim, y’know”, a) that isn’t true, and b) what the frick would it matter if it WERE true?
Here is an article explaining how a product from Apple can be used to make life better, easier, less dangerous for our troops – and, by the way, Iraqis – and you want to waste space by arguing the need for “100 more years” of the war? They have asked us to leave. Bush is negotiating with them. McCain is still playing the Fear Card. For Christ’s sake (yeah, I’m one of those), take a moment and THINK. I know … it can be hard. But try. If you have this big “thing” about Christ being the “Prince of Peace” then you really need to be focusing on bringing the war to a just close rather than continuing it well past the need for it. Well, unless you are selling mercs to the US for inflated prices.
On Topic: great use of a great product.
Folks, let’s try not to make this into a political thing.
“Ok… so the iPod can blast out arabic phrases for the troops. …Does the iPod have a new translation input module that allows the troops to understand the arabic that’s spoken back to them?”
No need for that module; the iPod is not used to talk to the Arabs; it is used to talk AT them. As in: we’re giving orders and you’re doing what we tell you to do. There are no question marks at the end of those sentences. No need for beedback.
Why is it that whenever I click the mouse down in this window (with this particular page loaded) or drag this window around, I hear music? At first it was rap, now it’s a commercial. I’m in Safari, OS 10.5.4. Even clicking to position the cursor in this field causes a blip of sound. Am I going insane? I’ve never seen such a thing before.
WANTED: an i-App that took live speech input, and accurately spoke back translated output.
Would be very useful in third-world cities such as Los Angeles….
the iPod is not used to talk to the Arabs; it is used to talk AT them. As in: we’re giving orders and you’re doing what we tell you to do. There are no question marks at the end of those sentences. No need for beedback.
Have you used this in Iraq, or are you just talking out of your ass?
@@Predrag
I use my iPod to translate my regular speech into the ‘talking out my ass’ language. I’m not sure how it does it, but that’s what people tell me.
Wait…I just remembered, mine is an iPhone…..
Islam will rule the world—through iPods!
I’m Barack Obama and I approved this message.
Was is one thing.
But electing the Socialist Obama, you are making the Founding Fathers disgusted.
OpJ, you are right again!
I pray to God Almighty Barack Obama does not get president.
If he does, the blacks will riot, if he doesn’t, they will riot even more. They will cry that the election was stolen like in ’00 and ’04.
Wait and see.
“If he does, the blacks will riot, if he doesn’t, they will riot even more.”
Is your white hood at the cleaners?
STFU racist pig.
Victor
I think those were mainly spoiled white kids.
It was probably the sagging pants that threw ya’….
As I said: </i>”As for cheap attacks like “he’s really a Muslim, y’know”, a) that isn’t true, and b) what the frick would it matter if it WERE true?”</i>
When it comes to ‘a’, only a moron would think he would/could “pass” for three+ decades just for this opportunity.
When it comes to ‘b’, only a bigot (or moron) would feel that a candidates religion – rather than his/her morality – matters. The same bigots who opposed the “Roman Catholic” John F. Kennedy. Not that he was perfect – just don’t tell my Mom I said that.
Again … GREAT use for a great product. OK, yeah, mostly used for talking AT them. But doing so in their own language.
Learning a language also means learning about the people, the mentality.
That’s something even Star-Wars-type translators couldn’t handle .
An iPod playing Pashto (Pushto is a typo in the original article that MDN took over), Kurdish or Iraqi sentences is probably more helpful than just pointing guns at people all the time – but think what you would think of people that play sentences at you and don’t even understand your answers.
The people in Iraq probably think the Arabic version of “WTF?”.
I’ve read about a guy who speaks 20 or 30 languages – but the language he likes most is apparently Pashto.
Some students from Afganistan he met at his university couldn’t believe that he actually spoke their language.
Speaking the same language also helps to build trust – and in a law-less country like Afghanistan and Iraq currently are, trust and weapons are the only things that count.
@ MalVado & Ron…
“God Bless Our Troops”
No no, F#CK your troops. Instead, god bless the unfortunate civilians that your govt. sees fit to write off as ‘collateral damage’.
Ya, since when did the Mac community include such war-mongering neanderthals?