Kilgray today announced the general availability of MemoQ 4.0, a server-based translation memory engine and desktop environment for translators, after several months in beta field test. Although we consider MemoQ a translation management system (TMS), the software also competes against traditional desktop translation memory tools (Déjà Vu, Trados, Transit, Wordfast). LSPs appreciate that a project prepared in memoQ can be translated in other common tools, giving vendors the flexibility they need for managing the reality of a freelance workforce.

We find three items of special note in the latest upgrade:

1. With 4.0, MemoQ adds a “post translation” analysis tool. The system now tracks all the segments it presents to translators during the course of a project to get a more accurate word count. Traditional tools apply memory at the beginning of a project, and don’t track matches that happen during a project. But with a centralized, server-based system like MemoQ, matches that did not exist during file prep may propagate in real-time as multiple translators work through the job. This new capability ensures that LSPs won’t overpay freelancers for words translated elsewhere in the project.
2. Another new for MemoQ feature is the ability to capture and share project settings – a bundle of 12 different project “resources” from segmentation rules to terminology including lists of auto-translatables, non-translatables, and words for the spell-checker to ignore, segmentation rules, QA settings, and so on. These bundles can then be reapplied to future projects, or even sent from one company’s system to another. CSOFT and Lionbridge both have tools with similar bundling to streamline localization engineering tasks, but this may be new for commercial off-the-shelf software.
3. Lastly, the update improves the primary interface for translators and editors. Kilgray claims its new text editor client software is faster and more stable than its 3.6 version. This usability enhancement eliminates one of the few complaints with Kilgray’s platform.

By improving both the reporting functions and the user experience, Kilgray signals that the broad outlines of the platform are in place and its software engineers can now focus on performance issues and utility. While the company focuses its marketing efforts on LSPs, we often hear translators saying positive things about the translation environment, and we expect the ranks of nodding heads to swell with this new release. The company should expand its visibility in the U.S. and U.K. markets this year.

Yesterday employment services provider Manpower announced that it would acquire COMSYS IT Partners, a professional staffing firm. Both companies offer language services in their portfolio — Manpower is the fourteenth largest company on our list of top 30 language service providers (LSPs), generating US$55 million in language-related revenue in 2008 (we are working on our 2009 market sizing now). COMSYS will reportedly add another US$30 million dollars of language revenue, not enough to bring Manpower into the first tier of LSPs, but enough to increase its ability to supply translation technology services in North America.

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Language service provider Welocalize today announced the release of its web-based MarketSight translation marketplace. In this latest example of translation technologies moving into the cloud, this self-service software is aimed at helping companies manage their marketing translation budgets and operations. Unlike most portals offered by translation agencies, MarketSight lets users plug in any translator or agency that the client engages.

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