Google Translate App Update Adds Word Lens

Google has announced a significant update to its Translate app for mobile users. The updated app gets several new features for Android and iOS users including a feature called Word Lens. Word Lens is really cool because it allows users to take a picture of text and get a translation for the text in 36 languages. That means if you are in a foreign city, you can do things like snap pictures of street signs and see what they mean.

When you aim the camera at a sign, using Word Lens the translated text is laid over the top of the sign. One of the good things about this feature is that you don't need to have a data connection or WiFi for the translation to work.

Instant translations are currently supported from English and to and from French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Google plans to add more languages to the feature in the future. Google has also made it easier to speak to someone and get translations.

You can now tap the mic to start speaking in a selected language and tap it again to get Translate to recognize the languages being spoken. These updates will go a long way towards helping users get along in foreign lands and speak to people when needed even if you don't know the language.

SOURCE: Inside Research