Having the opportunity to meet people from all around the globe is one of the cooler things about the web. And luckily, for smartphone users, translator apps will provide you with what you need to easily communicate with anyone in any language.
Translation Fire brings iPhone users the ability to translate in 52 languages and it includes features like text-to-speech, plus an added option to translate text in real-time via GChat.
It’s similar to Google Translator but it offers a wide variety of great features that aren’t available within Google’s free app. First off, through the app’s “fire” feature users can send translated text to email, SMS or social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Secondly, after inputting your Google credentials, you’re able to communicate with your foreign-speaking friends over Google chat. This app is crazy-fast so chatting in real-time is a breeze.
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The user interface splits the screen to divide the languages you’re translating. It’s highly intuitive and although it has a fair amount of features, the layout makes the experience easy to master. By typing in a phrase, a few options will be available including the option to “listen” to the phrase translated, as well as the ability to see how the phrase is said via the phonetics feature.
Translations
To receive translations in text, users can copy text from the web into the app’s clipboard or type the phrase directly within the app. In order to hear a translation, Translation Fire first requires users to input the phrase via text. In other words, unlike Google Translator, this app doesn’t seem to generate translations based on listening to a phrase. Since the “listen” feature only works after something has been copied or typed, it might not replace the Google Translator app quite yet.
To speed up communication, Translation Fire can store and save favourite phrases within the app and it also supports BUMP so friends can be added to the app instantly by bumping or touching iPhones. This app would be a sweet companion while traveling and providing the people you’re meeting use Google, the GChat translate tool would be extremely useful.
The Bottom Line:
Translation Fire is a must-have app for the iPhone if you require quick translations over GChat. The developer is still in the process of bringing the “listen” feature to all languages so if you require text-to-speech translations in Thai or Yiddish you’ll have to wait. It’s available in the app store for $0 .99, and it’s compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
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