Google has updated the free Google Translate app for Android, letting you translate text by snapping a photo and then brushing your finger over the text in an image.
All you have to do get started is fire up the app, hit the camera button, point your camera at a restaurant menu, business sign, or anything else you want to translate.
You’ll need Google Translate 2.5 or later to use the new feature, and you’ll need a device running Android 2.3 or later with a rear-facing camera.
It’s not quite as easy to use as Word Lens, which provides real-time text translations as soon as you point your camera at printed text. But Google Translate supports many more languages than Word Lens.
Word Lens is also $4.99, while Google Translate is free.
Aside from the nifty new camera feature, the latest update also adds support for dialect preferences for speech input, the ability to recognize multiple characters at once with Japanese handwriting, and instant translation results as you type.
via reddit
