You may have read about this by now. This thing has won an inventor's prize although I am not sure anyone could use it with anything other than humour as it would be easy for it to go wrong. They had a demo on Radio Four's Today programme a few months ago using a Border Collie and a Japanese lady translating his barks from Japanese into English- apparently all he was saying was "I want to PLAY!" over and over....:rolleyes:

"K-9 translator created

TOKYO (AP) -- A Japanese toy maker has the answer for dog owners curious about their pets' state of mind -- the Bowlingual.

Takara Co.'s handheld device, which is smaller than a credit card, deciphers growls and yelps into six feelings -- frustration, alarm, self-expression, happiness, sadness and desire. Depending on the type of bark, words pop up on the device display, such as "I can't stand it," or "How boring."

Similar to computerized voice-recognition for human speech, the Bowlingual matches barks with digital patterns of various barks preprogrammed into the device to translate pooch sounds into pronouncements like: "I'm arf-ully lonely. Please play with me more."

The device also produces a diary summing up a dog's day: "So many fun things today. What an ultra-happy day."

Bowlingual comes with a finger-size microphone that attaches to the dog's collar. The device, which costs 12,800 yen -- about $104 -- will go on sale in Japan in February and may be exported later on, the company said."
[FROM THE INTERNET]

This is terrible! One malfunction and some idiots will think their dogs gone nuts :)
I don't think a sane owner NEEDS a translator. I always understand what my dog is saying and believe any 'invention' would only hinder the learning process in a less experienced owner. With time and love we all learn 'dogspeak'!