Yeah, you’re really clever for getting the tricorder sound effect to play when popping the slide on your phone, but can you make it work as a universal translator like the dorky little pins Starfleet troops wear? Maybe not yet, but Sakhr Software is taking the first steps with their two-way English/Arabic voice-to-voice translation application for BlackBerry. The video really says it all – speak in, check the transcription in text, out comes the robot voice in the other language. Google Translate has given automated translation a bad rap, although it’s certainly functional, as demonstrated by the one Arabic-to-English demonstration. Let’s face it: this kind of stuff makes you realize the future is right now. Instant audio translation is something people made jokes about not long ago, and here we are, the first steps being made. It would take awhile to have a proper conversation with Sakhr’s app, but software like this will tear down some serious language barriers in the future. No word on availability or pricing, but go ahead and get in touch with the devs over here.