Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Google Translate is gaining instantaneous translation support for 20 more languages

Kyle Wiggers
By

google ai translate
Malarie Gokey/Digital Trends
As far as computer-powered translation apps go, Google Translate’s pretty holistic — Google’s digital Babel Fish will happily decipher any number of dialects for the unabashedly monolingual. But text translation is only the very tip of the service’s linguistic iceberg: pic-based translation, a feature borne out of Google’s 2014 acquisition of Word Lens, instantaneously translates foreign words on street signs, menus, and billboards into your native tongue. And now it’s getting better: Today, the Google Translate team announced that 20 new languages are joining Translate’s stable of instantly translatable languages.

This meaty addition brings the total number of snap-supported languages to 27, an impressive jump from the seven that lens-based translation debuted with in January. (Notable additions include Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Turkish, Ukrainian.) Lost in Bulgaria with nary a clue how to get to Burgas, or want to know just what’s in that Swedish nyponsoppa the hostess so highly recommended? Set the language to “English” along with the language you’d like to translate, click the camera button, and you’ll be well on your way.

Google Translate vs. “La Bamba”

And Translate’s improving in other ways. Thanks to a neural network not unlike the one powering Gmail’s new spam filter, pic translation now works offline. It’s fairly heady stuff: algorithms drive Translate to sift through images and identify what’s a letter and what isn’t. It’s even smart enough to account for fake reflections and smudges. In all, Google says the localized translation gives better results than the old, Internet-dependent system without sacrificing speed.

Recommended Videos

Beyond text, speech-to-speech translation is now much more responsive. The search giant says the update should make translation across the 32 supported languages work reliably even on flaky connections.

Related

Google says the update will roll out to Android and iOS users “over the next few days.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kyle Wiggers
Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
The Google Pixel Fold 2 just got a lot more exciting
A person holding the Google Pixel Fold.

It's widely expected that Google is working on a Pixel Fold 2, and according to one new report, Google's second folding phone could get a much-needed performance upgrade. We're talking a vastly upgraded processor and significantly more RAM — and those are both really big deals.

According to a recent report from Android Authority, citing an unnamed source, "Google has been testing the Pixel Fold 2 internally for the last couple of months." That shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The more interesting tidbit is that the Pixel Fold 2 will reportedly have a Tensor G4 chipset instead of the Tensor G3 one found inside the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Google hasn't announced its Tensor G4 chip yet, though it will likely debut in the Pixel 9 series later this fall.

Read more
Google is expanding Fast Pair, casting to more devices
Google Fast Pair.

One of the most underrated features of any platform is the ability to quickly (and easily) pair headphones and earbuds to whatever device you want. And to that end, Google announced a couple of improvements on that front at CES 2024.

First up is Fast Pair, which makes it simple to pair accessories like the Pixel Buds Pro to devices like an Android phone or Chromebook. Over the next month or so, Fast Pair support is expanding to Chromecast With Google TV. And it’ll expand even further later in the year to additional Google TV devices.

Read more
Google is bringing Chrome browser to cars, even more EV features to Maps
Android Auto interface showing EV charging times.

Google is bringing a great combination of features to Android Auto and cars with Google built-in, particularly for those who drive an EV.

Google Maps is adding more EV-centric features for those who use Android Auto from their connected phone. Starting with the Ford F-150 Lightning and Mach-E, you'll now see information on expected state of charge on arrival to your destination, as well as charging station locations and expected charging times for longer trips. This is a feature that's been available for EVs running Google built-in (aka Android Automotive), and in my experience, it's extremely helpful and helps alleviate charging anxiety. It's wonderful to see this brought to the much wider-reaching Android Auto version of Maps, and I hope it expands to more cars soon.

Read more