dictionaries
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The popular iTranslate iOS app comes to the Mac
iTranslate is a favorite tool of mine on iOS. Today iTranslate has made it to the Mac and has appeared in the Mac App Store at an introductory price U$4.99, half of what it normally costs. iTranslate supports more than 80 languages and is accessible from the Mac menu bar. This is a very polished app, that displays pronunciations along with voice output so it's actually possible to hear the words in your selected language. The app allows you to define a keyboard shortcut to launch it, and it supports cut and paste as well as the built-in speech recognition in recent versions of OS X. An anchor icon at the upper left keeps the app window in the foreground. iTranslate supports different dialects, and male and female voices. You can even control the speaking rate. The app also supports dictionaries for common words and phrases in many of the supported languages. The app is generally easy to use, but when it launched all I saw was English to German translation. Users have to click on the flags (see images at the top of the post and in the slideshow) to see the list of other options. It wasn't very obvious, but in retrospect I can see why they did this, as it keeps the GUI quite simple. There is detailed help available within iTranslate. The app requires an internet connection because all the processing is done off your Mac, as would be expected. The very similar Google Translate is also available for Mac users through any web browser, but I preferred the ease of use of iTranslate. Google's translation capabilities are also accessible through some other apps in the Mac App Store like Quick Translate Pro for $1.99. and Translate Tab for $3.99. iTranslate requires OS X 10.8 or later and a 64-bit processor. I liked this app; it is simple and powerful, and always a click away. Given the competition to the app, I think the $4.99 price is OK. The usual $10.00 price seems a bit steep given what else is available for free, even though iTranslate has a very deep feature set.
Kindle for iOS introduces sample downloads and custom dictionaries
It's been a while since Kindle for iOS users have been able to download content directly from the app, thanks to Apple's 30 percent fee for in-app purchases. Today, Amazon is reintroducing that feature -- albeit a modified version -- in its latest update, available now in iTunes. From the existing library search, you can browse Amazon's store for sample downloads where available. You won't be able to purchase the full book, but you can at least discover new content in a slightly more efficient manner. Additionally, you can now import you own dictionaries -- like medical or legal texts -- if the default one simply doesn't suit your needs. To get your paws on the update, head on over the source link below.
Merriam-Webster announces Dictionary API for developers, coming to a word game near you
Merriam-Webster just announced its new Dictionary API, which gives developers access to the full dictionary and thesaurus, along with more specialized content like medical, Spanish, ESL and student-targeted vocabulary lists. The API will let app makers integrate word definitions, etymologies, audio pronunciations and more. While this content will no doubt make it into a slew of educational apps, Merriam-Webster says it will also enhance word games, so maybe Scramble and Words with Friends will finally start accepting those obscure three-letter words you have up your sleeve.
Microsoft's experimental English-Chinese dictionary mines the web for data (video)
When it comes to quick and dirty machine translation it may not supplant Google Translate anytime soon, but for those who would actually learn another language, Microsoft's working on some fairly impressive tools. Engkoo is an search engine for Chinese speakers that scours the web for its data, finding articles that are written in both Chinese and English to create an continually-updated lexicon, plus provide interactive (and audible) sample sentences that explain nuances of the language. See a rundown (in English) of what's possible so far in a Silverlight video after the break, and try it out for yourself at our source link -- if you must, you can even search for "tiananmen."
