It was first seen in Sonic Unleashed when Sonic and Chip had restored the first continent. The device seems to be able to perform many functions, such as detecting if an object is nearby and displaying an image of the entire planet. It can also record videos, as shown in Sonic Unleashed, when the first continent was restored, as Tails showed Sonic a clip of the event.
The device is seen again in Sonic Colors, as Tails attempts to create a translation module so that he and Sonic could understand the language of the Wisps. In the Wii version, it initially makes several comical translations errors and is not perfected until the end of the game, whereas in the DS version, the translator works perfectly throughout the entire game. The device itself seems to have been given some slight aesthetic changes as well.
In the console version of Sonic Generations, the Miles Electric can be seen on extra missions on Tails' biplane.
When Yacker was saying goodbye at the end of Sonic Colors, the viewer can get a good look at the Miles Electric. Tails claimed that the translator was in binary, but it was actually hexadecimal (ASCII code). This may be a result of Tails finally perfecting it, but this was never explained.
Additionally the first two lines of hex translate exactly to what Yacker was saying. But the bottom display read "If you can read this, you are a geek".