Following the launch of Microsoft’s Skype Translator service, Google will soon update its mobile translation app to recognize speech in a range of languages and turn it into text, reports The New York Times.
Google will announce the update to its Android app soon, according to the report. The new feature should make it easier for language learners, travelers and businesses to communicate more easily when conversing with foreign language speakers.
The New York Times also says that Google will launch a service to automatically translate foreign text into your native language on your smartphone, simply by pointing your device’s camera at, say, a street sign.
That technology actually exists in the form of an Android, Google Glass and iOS app called Word Lens. Google acquired Quest Visual, the startup behind the app last May — so it’s likely that the aforementioned service will be a revamped and rebranded effort that ties into Google’s ecosystem.
We’ve contacted Google for more details and will update this post when we hear back.
➤ Language Translation Tech Starts to Deliver on Its Promise [The New York Times]
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