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Just one month after Skype unveiled the ability to translate conversations between Spanish and English in real time, Google has announced its own voice translation service.

The mobile translation app will automatically recognise speech in a number of widely-spoken languages to translate it into text in a user's native language.

The move builds on Google's Translate feature, which offers written translation of 90 languages as well as enabling people to hear spoken translations in a handful of languages.

Google is tipped to extend its Google Translate app (logo pictured) by adding a feature that automatically recognises speech in a number of popular languages and translates conversation into text in a user's native language, potentially making awkward mis-communication problems on holiday, a thing of the past

The Android app will let people converse in different languages, offering a running commentary on what is being said on the screen of a smartphone or computer,The New York Times reported. 

When the update will be rolled out and how the technology works is unknown, but MailOnline has contacted Google for comment.

Google told the newspaper that its Translate app has been installed 100 million times on Android handsets and that most of these apps will get the speech update.

Macduff Hughes, the engineering director of Google Translate said: 'We have 500 million active users of Translate every month, across all our platforms.'  

Users of Google's text translate service which works with 140 languages will be familiar with this screen, but the new app will let people converse in different languages by offering a running commentary on what is being said, instead of a quick translattion in a 'box'

Rumours of the Google update come a month after Microsoft released a preview of Skype Translator (shown). It lets people of different languages talk to each other on video calls. The software translates Spanish or English into text and speech, using a Windows 8.1 device

He believes that because 80 to 90 per cent of the web is written in 10 languages, being able to interpret different languages is a critical learning tool for millions of people.

Google will also launch a freshly branded app that translates foreign text into a user's native language using a smartphone camera.

The ability to do this already exists via an app called Word Lens, whose parent company, Quest Visual, was acquired by Google in May 2014. 

Users can hover their smartphone camera in front of text – a street sign for example - to see a translation magically appear on their screen.

Last month, Microsoft's Skype released a beta version of its live translation tool, which translates speech instantly into both text and spoken translations.

While it currently only interprets between English and Spanish, it will eventually offer 40 languages, which will mean people from different countries will be able to converse with ease. 

'Skype is now removing another barrier to make it possible for people to communicate irrespective of what language they speak,' Microsoft's Gurdeep Pall wrote in a blog post.

'Skype Translator relies on machine learning, which means that the more the technology is used, the smarter it gets.' 

Skype Translator breaks language barriers in the classroom

Initial reports from Skype's beta version (shown) say it is good, although not perfect. 'For Skype Translator to work properly, there is a little mental conditioning involved,' reported Gizmodo. They say you need to speak slowly, and now 'um' or 'ah' too much

'We are starting with English and Spanish, and as more people use the Skype Translator preview with these languages, the quality will continually improve.'

Initial reports about Skype's beta version say it is good, but not perfect. 

'For Skype Translator to work properly, there is a little mental conditioning involved,' reported Gizmodo.

'For one, you must speak slowly. Skype Translator's speech recognition is good, and plenty fast, but that accuracy decreases as you speed up in words per minute.

'"Hey, how is it going?" can change to "Hey is going?" pretty quickly.'

It's also recommended that the speaker doesn't 'um' and 'ah' too much, as this can confuse the translation tool.

A breakthrough by the Skype and Microsoft Translator teams in neural network-based speech recognition reduced errors in speech recognition by more than 30 per cent, meaning that it is more accurate than ever before. 

Google will also launch a freshly branded app that translates foreign text into a user's native language using a smartphone camera. The ability to do this already exists via an app called Word Lens, in which users instantly see a translated sign, for example (pictured), on the screen of their phone 

Microsoft first unveiled the technology (shown) two years ago. At the time, though, it was deemed too inaccurate to release to the general public. But a breakthrough by the Skype and Microsoft Translator teams in neural network-based speech recognition reduced errors in speech recognition by more than 30 per cent

Learn how to call using the revolutionary Skype Translator