Bing and Microsoft research level the playing field with the launch of Translator, a smartphone translation app for use on Windows Phone.

So many mobile device translation apps, so little time. What is one to do? Well move over iPhone geeks and Android aficionados, make room for Translator, the new Windows Phone translation application that’s all the buzz lately.

The new app allows you to translate printed language by simply pointing the camera. Everything from street signs and posters to transit schedules and restaurant menus are all fair game. Just point, scan and translate. It’s as simple as that. Here’s how the folks at Microsoft describe it:

“All you do is point and scan. Think of this as automatic subtitles for everyday life - a view that provides continuous translation smoothly overlaid over the original language.”

For now, the app can handle English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Chinese Simplified.

But what if you’ve got no network connection during a visit to Munich? Kein problem. Just download the required language pack and the Translator App can be functional offline. The app was designed using the same highly optimized and compressed translation technology that powers Bing’s translation features with which you’re already familiar on the Web.

Alex Dupont

See Also

• More about machine translation
  Raw machine translation may be sufficient for communicating via social networks. However, you may have to consider human translation if you require high quality.
• Translator for Windows Phone is now available by Edwin Kee
  The Translator app for Windows Phone is now available, where it will play nice as long as your smartphone runs on Windows Phone 7 and above.