Studio on a tablet?

Just for a bit of fun, but with some potentially very useful applications, this article is about being able to translate using SDL Trados Studio 2011 on your tablet.  Don’t believe me?  I’ve prepared a quick video, very amateurish but screenshots simply aren’t good enough..!

The way this works is of course through using some app magic… in this case supplied by splashtop and it runs on Android and Apple operating systems.  No doubt there are others out there but this is the first I have come across and been able to use successfully.  All you need to do is install the app onto your mobile device, and then a small “streamer” application that runs on your computer.  Then as long as you’re online you can access your computer from your mobile device and run the applications as if you were in front of your computer instead.

It does work remarkably fast, but is a little clunky in trying to access some of menu items on a piece of software designed for use with a keyboard and mouse.  But I can imagine some useful possibilities when used in conjunction with Dragon Naturally speaking or something like that.  It might be just the job for finishing off that translation or sending out that Project Package you forgot to do before leaving the office or a final review after your “normal” working hours lying back in a comfy chair with a cup of tea 😉

0 thoughts on “Studio on a tablet?

  1. That’s good to know, especially now that netbooks are being discontinued. I’m looking at options to take Trados with me and use it on the go if I need it. I bet that keyboards and accessories to tilt the tablet and use it as a monitor are available. However, I assume that this requires keeping your computer turned on. Do you know if there is a way to use Windows in Android as I believe Apple users do, as a drive of some kind within iOS, which would enable you to install Trados and Office there? I don’t know if the OS in a tablet would be powerful enough, though.

    1. Hi Valeria, I believe you can use something like “Bochs for Android” which will allow you to install a windows xp operating system on your phone or tablet. Once you have this you can install any windows application on there. However, I reckon space will be the first killer, and lack of processing power will be the second and then goodness knows what the lack of proper hardware will throw up once you get going. I’m sure we’ll see improvements in this area as time goes by but for now as far as I know the best bet if you want to use your tablet for Studio is to run it through an emulator as I showed here.

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