With the release of Google Translate for Android in early 2010, Google allowed us to break communication barriers and translate freely on the go with our Android device. Google Translate is supported by 53 different languages from Afrikaans to Yiddish, and voice input for 15 languages.
The application is available for devices running Android 2.1 and above.
The new interesting option Google just added is Conversation Mode. In conversation mode, as its name implies you can have an actual discussion with someone who doesn’t speak your language and Google’s Interpreter will translate the conversation on the fly.
Conversation Mode is still in alpha mode and for now supports conversation in English and Spanish. Regional accents, background noise or rapid speech may make it difficult to understand what you’re saying so you may have to try a few times to make sure you don’t miscommunicate. But “even with these caveats, we’re excited about the future promise of this technology to be able to help people connect across languages.” says Awaneesh Verma Product Manager for Google.
Google’s translate on Android is currently used daily in more than 150 countries and the addition in the near future of a more robust Conversation Mode will definitely increase its usage around the world.
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