Windows 10’s translator app available in beta on the Windows Store right now

By Dave LeClair September 16, 2015

windows 10 adoption slowing home screen user — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Just a few days ago, Microsoft teased an upcoming universal translation app, and now, the firm has made it available in beta form on the Windows Store. As one would expect, the app is available for free, so anyone running Windows 10 can give it a download and see if it works for their needs.

As far as features go, the aptly named Translator 10 Beta can translate text typed in by a user, words shown through a camera, and language spoken through a microphone. It features text-to-speech, so users can hear the language spoken as well as see it translated visually on their display.

For text translation, the app supports 50 languages. For camera, users will be able to translate 19 languages, and voice translation supports 10. Presumably, more languages will be added as time goes on.

Since users traveling abroad may not have consistent access to the Internet, Microsoft’s new app features access to offline translation. Users need to download a translation pack before they venture off to foreign lands in order to take advantage of this feature. Since it’s available on both mobile devices and PCs, this is a feature that definitely makes a lot of sense.

Other features of the app include the ability to save translations in history, so users can always go back and get access to the phrases and words they’ve translated before. There’s also a neat Word of the Day feature that shows users new words or phrases if the app is pinned to Start.

The app was just released, and it seems like it is being well received by users, with a five-star rating based on 27 reviews, as of this writing. Of course, the beta tag means that the app isn’t in its finished state, and we expect to see frequent updates that will add more features, and hopefully more languages to the camera and voice translation options as time goes by.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Dave LeClair has been writing about tech and gaming since 2007. He's covered events, hosted podcasts, created videos, and…

Computing

Top 10 Windows shortcuts everyone should know

An individual using a laptop's keyboard.

Windows shortcuts are a constantly-used feature by practically all PC users. Apart from saving you time from carrying out the specific command without having to perform a few extra clicks on your mouse, it’s simply more convenient to refer back to shortcuts via your keyboard.

Although you may be satisfied with the Windows shortcuts you already know about and utilize on a daily basis, you can enhance your general Windows experience in a big way with these 10 shortcuts everyone should know.
Ctrl + Z
Tired of always having to use your mouse to find and click the Undo button on a program like Microsoft Word or, say, entering details on a website or editing images? Ctrl + Z will basically undo whatever your last action was, providing you a convenient way to reverse edits and changes within a second. From personal experience, this shortcut proved to be especially useful for productivity applications.
Ctrl + Shift + T
We’ve all been there. Nowadays, our browsers are inundated with multiple tabs, and as such, it’s hard to keep track of at times. Eventually, you’re going to close a tab on accident when trying to select it. Instead of trying to remember what it was or spending a few seconds accessing it and reopening it via the Recently Closed feature (on Chrome), simply hit Ctrl + Shift + T to restore the last closed tab. Similarly, Ctrl + N will open a new tab.
Alt + Tab

Computing

After 10 years of headaches, I’m finally a believer in Windows on ARM

The Microsoft Surface 3 with its blue keyboard.

Almost two years in, Apple is on the verge of completing its transition to ARM. It might surprise you to know, then, that Microsoft started its own journey to ARM chips long before Apple.

But Windows' support for ARM has been far less smooth. There aren't many more Windows devices with ARM chips than there were five years ago -- and I can attest to having personally used every failed attempt along the way.

Computing

Windows 11 now stops brute force cyberattacks right in their tracks

Two windows laptops sit on a wooden table.

Not all threats to your computer come from viruses and dodgy emails. Some people will simply try to smash their way into your PC by generating as many passwords as possible until they gain access, like a lock picker. Windows 11 can now stop that.

The most recent Windows 11 build blocks these brute force attacks with an Account Lockout Policy. Windows will automatically lock down accounts, including administrator accounts, after 10 failed login attempts.