There’s something I’d like to share with the translator community; I’ve figured out how to run a CAT tool on my Nokia N900 mobile phone.

This is the phone of geeks, anyway, featuring a full Linux operating system and root access (admin rights) to let you customise any aspect of the device. It even has Skype integrated; another bonus for a translator on the move.

Now, the CAT tool is the open-source (source code shared freely at no cost), cross-platform (PC, Linux, Mac) OmegaT. I’ve been singing its praises for several years now, much preferring it to the slower, more cumbersome CAT tools.

This may be just a novelty, but it’s great to know that I can use a CAT tool when not in the office. I don’t know if this is a first, translation tools on a mobile phone, but so far I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else online.

Here is a (very) brief rundown of how to set it up:

- get hold of a Nokia N900
-  download and install the easydebian image (instructions on maemo.org, takes an hour)
-  download the Linux OmegaT archive
- open and extract in easydebian
-  run OmegaT.jar (wait a minute for it to start)
- import your OpenOffice, rtf or txt files and get to work!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, some screenshots of OmegaT running on the N900:

CAT tool on mobile phone

Close-up of CAT tool on phone

CAT tool on mobile phone

6 Responses to “How to: CAT tool translation on mobile phone”

  1. Raymond Martin July 18, 2010 at 1:06 pm #

    Now try OmegaT+ and show the results.

    OmegaT+ has a smaller footprint so it should use less resources and has some optimizations.

    I would like to know if it works. Thanks.

  2. Luke July 19, 2010 at 10:17 am #

    @Raymond

    I can confirm that it does work. Although alt-right for next segment is painful on the n900 as the alt-key is only available on the virtual keyboard in easydebian.

    Also 7zip is not natively supported on n900 (OmegaT+ is supplied as a 2MB 7zip archive) – but it can be installed from the ‘extras testing’ repository.

    Perhaps it does use less resources, but in terms of workflow (next segment, load times), OmegaT is still the preference for this translator.

  3. Luke July 19, 2010 at 10:28 am #

    Thanks for the mention on the OmegaT forums…

    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/OmegaT/messages/18453?threaded=1&m=e&var=1&tidx=1

  4. Petar August 28, 2010 at 8:18 pm #

    How about Wordfast Pro? Yes, it’s a proprietary app, but is written in Java, too, supported on Linux and has a quite functional demo mode. Not to mention that it’s preferred CAT tool of many large agencies, thus making it rather useful app to have on one’s phone. Thanks!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Tradução | Mobilidade na tradução: CAT OmegaT no smartphone N900 | pribi.com.br - July 17, 2010

    [...] de ler neste post de que a CAT (ferramenta de auxílio à tradução) OmegaT funciona no celular N900. Excelente! É [...]
  2. Netbooks for translators – are they worth it? | Luke Spear Freelance French Translation - June 21, 2011

    [...] With my previous laptop having finally succumbed to age and keyboard liquid incidents, it was time to find another tool to allow me to work remotely. At home, a self-built desktop PC serves me well in my comfortable chair, but on sunny days when the garden calls, or when travelling anywhere else for any reason, the smartphone doesn’t quite cut it, even if I did manage to get a CAT tool running on it. [...]