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Google's translation app will soon turn speech into text on the fly
Converting unfamiliar speech to text in Google Translate is currently an awkward affair: you have to start a recording and wait until a moment after you're done to find out what the other person said. That's not exactly living up to the dream of a Star Trek-like universal translator, folks. However, the New York Times understands that Translate is about to get considerably smarter. Reportedly, an updated version of the mobile app (coming "soon") will automatically detect speech and translate it right away. All you'd really have to do is hold your phone up with the app running -- important if you'd rather not go through a song-and-dance routine just to find out where the washrooms are.
Google Translate Chrome extension can zoom in on short bits of text
Say, you're reading an article written in your third language but can't properly decipher a sentence or two -- you can just highlight those specific lines and let the Google Translate extension for Chrome do the rest. The add-on's new update makes it simpler to translate small snippets out of websites: highlighting part of the text leads to a pop-up icon you can click to view the translation (or some semblance of it, since we all know the service isn't always on point) on the same screen. You can also right click and choose Google Translate to view the original sentence and its meaning in a separate tab, though. Of course, if you want to to read the whole page in the language of your choice, you can always click the service's icon living in the corner of your browser. The extension should update itself if it's already installed, otherwise, you can download it right now from the Chrome Web Store.
Google Translate for Android now deciphers handwriting in 13 more languages
If you're an Android user traveling to the Middle East or southern Asia, you'll likely want to grab a just-released update to Google Translate. The new app expands on a recent iOS upgrade with handwriting recognition for 13 extra languages that mostly come from the above two regions; you can now write in Arabic and Persian as well as Indian dialects like Gujarati, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. You'll also find support for Bosnian, Cebuano, Hmong, Maltese, Mongolian and Somali. This isn't the biggest Google Translate refresh that we've seen, but it could make all the difference if you're visiting Dubai or New Delhi.
Google Translate for Android has a new look for smoother conversations and supports more languages
Google Translate is one of the better translation apps out there, so it's always great whenever an update (for Android in this case) that gives its features a boost arrives. Its fresh interface that's cleaner and simpler than the old one will likely be the first thing you'll notice upon loading the updated Android app. This change comes with the ability to quickly translate conversations, as tapping the microphone loads a new screen that lets you switch between languages by tilting your device. Mountain View has also enhanced old features, including handwriting recognition that now supports Hebrew, Greek, Javanese and the manufactured language Esperanto. Its built-in camera, on the other hand, can now decipher text in Malay and Ukranian. These changes, along with other minor tweaks, are now available for download, but head past the break if you want to see a demo of the upgraded app.
Google Translate iOS app updated with new UI, handwriting support
International travelers just got one more reason to update to iOS 7: Google's Translate app. Mountain View's machine translation service is already the go-to language conversion tool for many users, but the app's latest iOS update packs in a few killer features. In addition to a modern UI overhaul, the iPhone app no supports seven additional languages (bringing its total up to 70) and touch-based handwriting input. The latter feature hit the service's homepage earlier this summer, and converts the user's woeful imitations of foreign script into translatable characters. It's clean looking, useful and brand new. What more can you ask for?
Google releases Google Translate 2.0 with handwriting support
Google has released a major update to its Translate app, which has been neglected for some time. With today's Google Translate 2.0 release, the app finally sees support for the iPhone 5. Google has also updated the app with an iOS 7-inspired design and added an additional seven languages including Bosnian, Cebuano, Hmong, Javanese, Khmer, Lao and Marathi. However, the biggest update to Google Translate 2.0 is handwriting recognition. Users can now write words with their finger to enter text in 49 languages, which the app will then translate on the fly. Other features of Google Translate 2.0 include support for 70 languages, speech translation and audio pronunciation of your translations. Google Translate 2.0 is a free download.
Google looks to boost Translate in Africa with Somali, Zulu and other languages
Google Africa is asking volunteers to judge the quality of beta translations for African languages Hausa, Igbo, Somali, Yoruba and Zulu. That means it's likely only a matter of time before they're added to the 71 current Google Translate lingos. Users on a Google+ page who speak one of the languages were asked to rate the translation of passages to and from English on a scale of 'poor' to 'excellent.' While it still seems a bit buggy, it looks to be a great start -- though users in isolated areas might need to wait for Facebook's internet.org initiative.
Google+ gets Translate for foreign language posts, comments
While other Google products have lain fallow, the company has been tinkering with Translate quite a bit lately. Now, the search giant is "gradually" rolling out functionality to translate desktop Google+ posts and comments into users' native tongues. Below each foreign language post there should be a clickable "Translate" link that will convert the text inline; another click will undo the translation. The latter should be handy if that comment in French turns out to be an insult about your mother -- not like that's ever happened on the internet before.
Google Translate homepage adds handwriting input, makes sense of your atrocious penmanship
Mountain View's machine translation service does a pretty good job of sussing out the meaning of copy / pasted text from around the web, but what if you need to translate something you can't put your cursor on? Google's got that covered too: handwriting input. Users of the tool's mobile app have been able to manually write in characters for some time now, but the company has only recently implemented this feature on the Google Translate website -- making it easy to input text that falls outside outside of the standard standard roman character set. After scrawling your best Kanji-replica with a mouse, Google will offer users its best guess at the intended characters, which, when selected, drop into the translate box. Of course, don't blame Google if your writing illegibly sloppy. Check out the company's blog post at the source link below.
Google Translate Android app gets Phrasebook syncing, additional language support for visual translation
Google Translate's truly a wonder of modern technology, with the ability to translate 64 70 languages, whether they are written, spoken or even photographed. Today Google's made it easier than ever to remain mono-lingual when traveling abroad by updating the Translate app for Android with Phrasebook syncing. This new feature lets users save translations of often used phrases and have access to them on any and all of their devices. Additionally, support for 16 new languages for its camera translation feature comes with the new code as well. This means that tourists traveling to Barcelona, Croatia, Slovenia and thirteen other places in Scandinavia and eastern Europe need not pester the locals for help reading street signs to get around. They can be good guests and offer to buy them a beer in their native tongue instead.
Google Translate adds five more languages to its repertoire
Google Translate has been getting a fairly steady stream of new features as of late, and it's now gotten a new update where it counts the most. Google has today added five more languages to the service, pushing the total number of translation options to over 70. Those latest additions include Bosnian, the official language of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Cebuano, one of the major languages of the Philippines; Hmong, spoken in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and the US; Javanese, Indonesia's second most-spoken language, and Marathi, spoken by more than 73 million people in India. According to Google, all but Bosnian are still in an alpha state, so you may well encounter more hiccups than usual as the company continues to make improvements to them. Those interested can put them to the test right now on either the web or in Google's mobile apps.
Google Translate on Android gains offline support for thrifty globetrotters
Travelers face a dilemma: they'll often leave a phone in airplane mode to avoid expensive roaming rates or a foreign SIM, but staying offline can break the translation services that might prove vital in a strange land. Google must have heard their plight, as a new version of Google Translate on Android adds the option to download offline packs for 50 different languages. They aren't as full-featured as their cloud-based equivalents, although there's good reason for the trimmed dictionaries -- at least some packs are over 150MB each. Unless space is just too tight, however, anyone with at least Android 2.3 can ask dónde el baño es without risking some bill shock.
Phrasebook for Google Translate lets you save important words for later reference
Google Translate has been steadily gaining new features, most recently adding translations from cameras and suggesting synonyms for your searched-for words. The latest addition, Phrasebook, lets you save translations for later reference. In practice, it's quite similar to starring items in your Gmail inbox; simply click the star icon under your translated text, and the sentence (or words) in question will be saved to your Phrasebook. To view all your saved translations, you simply click on the "Show Phrasebook" icon located in the top-right, and hovering over the text will give you the option to listen to each phrase. Controls let you search the saved phrases by language pairing or by searching specific phrases. We don't know about you, but we're already hard at work memorizing "Welcome to San Francisco!" in 50-some languages ahead of Engadget Expand this weekend.
Google Translate gets new features, makes sure you choose the right words
Google has added functionality to the web version of its Translate service, now making it even easier for us to use and understand foreign tongues. Instead of a single result, you'll be presented with a list of the most common translations, ordered and labeled by how frequently each one is used. What's more, synonyms are also displayed next to the assortment of results, but this particular feature only works when translating into English, although more languages are expected to be supported soon. We've had a quick play around with it, and suggest you head over to the Google Translate page and try out the new elements for yourself. Now, if only the website translator could make those Japanese pages a little easier to read.
Google Translate app gets weighty update, will translate signs through your smartphone camera
Google's multi-lingual translation app decided that (online) words were not enough. Beyond digital text, a new update to Translate will let Google's bots translate what you're looking at, whether that's hand-written directions or a sign saying, "wrong way." Though its not the first time we've seen an app that translates text from the camera (not even for Google) the update includes a convenient touch-guided interface that allows you to draw over the text you'd like converted into English -- it seemed to master our beginners' Spanish textbook with ease. The update also adds improvements to its voice translations, with new dialect preferences and improved handwriting recognition for Japanese input. Grab the download before you board that flight abroad this summer -- just ensure it's on a WiFi-only connection once you get there.
Google launches Endangered Languages website to save 3,000 at-risk tongues
Google lets users surf the web in 40-plus languages, and its Translate service accounts for 57 different tongues, but those numbers are dwarfed by the grand total of 7,000 currently existing languages. On its official blog today, the company announced the Endangered Languages Project, a website dedicated to preserving at-risk dialects by providing information via audio, video and text samples. Google collaborated with the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and Eastern Michigan University to compile research on the 3,000 languages at risk of dying out, and each language's profile includes results drawn from Google Books. Click through to the source link to check out a global visualization of these tongues -- it's mind-boggling that there are 52 endangered languages in Brazil alone.
Google updates translate plugin and Android app, unites nations
If your website lacks a little... je ne sais quois, it either needs something special, or that thing was lost in translation. If your managing different languages with Google's Website Translator plugin, however, then a new feature could put a stop to odd or inaccurate interpretations of your text. It's only in beta at the moment, but if you add a customization meta tag to a webpage, readers who know better can click on badly translated text and amend it (pending your approval). Likewise, you can fix up any broken translations yourself, and folk will see that version when using Chrome, or Google Toolbar to switch languages. Likewise, it looks like the official translate app for Android got a little spit and polish too, plus Esperanto support and new text to speech languages, so at least you can look a little more stylish while you order unknown items from the menu. Travel on over to the source links for the Rosetta stone.
Google's Language Immersion Chrome extension translates random text to teach foreign lingo
Berlitz may be the best way to learn a foreign language, but most of us have neither the time nor the ability to fully immerse ourselves in the vocabulary of another country. Hot on the heels of Gmail's automatic translation feature hitting the big time, Google's Translate team has crafted a Chrome extension to make language learning a bit more accessible. The extension does the trick by translating random portions of text to any of its 64 supported languages, so that your native tongue is interspersed with the lingo you're learning. Users have a sliding scale to set their knowledge level from novice to fluent, and can roll over translated words to hear how they should be pronounced. Interested? Peep a video demo after the break to see it in action, or take the plunge and install it at the source below.
Google Translate now serving over 200 million people per month
This may surprise you, but as Google keeps adding languages to its translation service's repertoire, the number of folks using it continues to increase accordingly. Google Translate's about to celebrate its 6th anniversary of machine translation, and now boasts over 200 million users each month -- with 92 percent of those folks coming from outside the US. Keep up the good work fellas, and as long as you expand Translate's beatboxing abilities, we're sure the online interpreter will be serving 300 million folks monthly in no time.
Google gives us some insight on the inner workings of Google Translate
Google may have started out as a search engine, but the scope of its services has grown considerably in the 10-plus years since its origin. Of the many products in its grand stable, Google Translate has become a workhorse platform, lending its multi-lingual chops to Chrome, Google +, Android, iOS, Gmail, and even Google eBooks. Few of Google's other services can claim to serve the company's core mission "to organize the world's info and make it accessible" as well as the digital interpreter. Since many take Translate's prodigious powers for granted (guilty), we figured a quick history lesson was in order. So, join us after the break for a video interview with one of Translate's senior software engineers and let him hit you with some knowledge about its origins and operation.
