Translation nation
Google has launched its official Translate for iPhone app so iOS users will be able to use new features.
Google originally launched a Google Translate HTML5 web app for iPhone users back in August 2008, and while the new app still has all the old features, it also boasts several new additions, according to a blog post by Software Engineer Wenzhang Zhu.
The new app accepts voice input for 15 languages and can be used to translate a word or phrase into one of more than 50 languages. iPhone owners can press the microphone icon next to the text box to use voice input and speak what they want to translate.
They can also listen to their translations spoken out loud in one of 23 different languages. The feature uses the same new speech synthesizer voices as the desktop version of Google Translate rolled out last month.
The translated text can be blown up to full-screen size so it easier to read and show the translation to the person you are communicating with, Zhu said.
Just like the web-based app, users can view dictionary results for single words, access starred translations and translation history both online and offline. It can also support romanized text like Pinyin and Romaji.
The app, which is available to download in Apple's App Store, is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch version 3 or later.
