This “speak to translate” feature accepts voice input for 15 languages, and can translate those voice inputs into more than 50 languages. To access, press the microphone icon next to the text box, and start talking.
Similarly, the app allows users to listen to translations spoken out loud in up to 23 languages. It uses the same speech synthesizer included in the desktop Google Translate app introduced last month.
For easier access, Translate on the iPhone also includes a full-screen mode. “This way, it’s much easier to read the text on the screen, or show the translation to the person you are communicating with. Just tap on the zoom icon to quickly zoom in,” Google said in a blog post.
Google said the iPhone version includes all the features found on the Web app, including the ability to view dictionary results for single words, access starred translations and translation history (even offline), and support romanized text like Pinyin and Romaji.
Google Translate is available in the App Store now; users will need an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 3.0 or later.
Google first introduced a Google Translate HTML5 Web app for iPhone users in August 2008. In 2009, Google updated the Web version of Translate to let users translate text instantly, as they type, without having to hit the Translate button. Last month, Google launched a new version of Google Translate for Android that includes a “conversation feature” that can translate in something akin to real time.
Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc.