Word Lens is an augmented reality camera that translates signs/menus any text that you point your camera at. The app has been free for a while, but to buy any languages to translate has always cost $6.49. Google has now bought Word Lens and made the languages free, it is unknown if they'll always be free or just for a short time to boost usage.
Android app also has all in-app purchases free: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.questvisua…
somewhat misleading tho =- the in app purchases aren't free, they are gone.
They have made the whole app free.
Read like you could acquire the in-app purchases to ensure you would always have them
No, there are plenty of in app purchases. You might be missing them.
On the android version, all languages are in the app. Thanks for the post OP!
ahh, version difference - i hate apple (post return of Jobs basically, lovced powerMacs)
fair enough, oh well, cant edit it now lol.
Thx adam
All?
None of the ones I want are there.
That's awesome. The $6.49 price for the languages definitely put me off at the time.
Wow, I remember installing this app a few years ago now and thinking how much potential it had. Last time I checked the languages available were only a couple, seems to have really improved on that front.
Agreed and now that they were bought out by Google, it's likely to get a lot better.
Thanks very much!
Cute, look forward to more languages from Google. Wonder if it will produce some Chinglish howlers like Please slip and fall carefully. :)
Cool app!
I'm now running around the office translating all the signs
Language packs which are $0.00
as the title of the deal says
A great functional addition to Android.
Google will use the app to gain data from you, at the moment it has minimal permissions but most google apps have much more.
So, no looking over foreign language bank robbing plans with this app then, thanks for the heads up. :-\
All this time iv'e been using google translate! Thankyou OP!
I just tested this and the translations were horrible. What's the point .
I think if it gives you a rough idea of what something says then its doing it should be fairly useful even if it is not perfect. I also feel that if Google has bought it then the translations will get a lot better.
Looks like I need to work on my own English skills after reading my message again. :/
Google some foreign streets sign images. A boon for tourists in foreign countries.
Good for foreign menus in restaraunts, invaluable!
Wow this app is great for free.about to travel so it's going to help out a heap.Thanks OP
This is awesome! My mother is blown away, haha. Ah, bless.
Yeah the first time you see it in action it really is like something from the future.
Tested this app using Google images, it's so good!
If this is of interest, also check out Waygo for Chinese and Japanese. It's bloody amazing!
Thanks for this! I am going to China on Monday :D
How funny is this: Nelson street becomes Horatio Nelson, British Naval Hero Street
http://images.wisegeek.com/nelson-street-chinatown.jpg
They will integrate this into Google Glass for sure.
Already available. Works really well too - http://www.glassappsource.com/listing/word-lens-for-glasses
Thanks OP! Perfect for my European trip later!!
Not compatible with nexus 7
Probably just cause there is no rear camera..
Thanks - any idea how long deal is on for?
no chinese :(
That language is too difficult
It's just a language and the written words are characters. Difficult for a human to learn, should be easy for a computer to 'learn'.
Difficult for a human to learn, should be easy for a computer to 'learn'.
Hahaha.
Which part are you laughing at?
How many languages do you know by the way?
Does that matter? I know 4 languages and 10 words in Chinese.
Then you only have an oversimplified model in your head about how humans and machines do translation.
google can translate chinese with no problems…
I wouldn't say no problems, you get quite a few howlers*, just check for translation jokes. Also consider that this is a standalone app without access to network resources which will help a lot, which Google will no doubt address.
In addition there are some issues peculiar to this application such as the need to do OCR on characters that are less standardised than the ones in Latin fonts and replace them in the image.
None of these difficulties are insuperable but it's not as easy as European languages. Understandably Word Lens went for the easy cases first.
But don't let me dampen the naive optimism. :)
* One that tickled me was a Japanese page that came out with the phrase "obtain by early hairy presence". It turned out to mean something like "first come first served".
I had to look up insuperable.
It's just a language and the written words are characters
Surely you have seen Chinese characters before. The characters are a lot more detailed than Latin script. As a result it would be more difficult for a phone camera to capture, OCR, and AR accurately in realtime. I'm sure it's possible, it's just comparatively more difficult compared to languages that use less-complicated Latin script.
Just look at the example posted earlier:
Check out Waygo. Similar thing, but still "Freemium" unfortunately.
Until Google buys it ;)
Fantastic! This will come in handy in my upcoming trip :)
is this question asked because you didn't read the description?
First app i got on my good old iPhone 4S, good to see it's free !
cool - wonder if i can point this at my boss to work out what the fork he is saying
Should be able to, if he speaks in speech bubbles.
Very useful, thank you!
Cheers OP. Never heard of this app before but could be very useful when traveling overseas. Just to confirm only European languages are free and available? I don't see any Asian languages likes Japanese, Korean, Thai etc. pack To download from the app
Yes it only coverts Latin based words, not Asian character sets. Perhaps they will introduce that later.
Great app.
This is a great app when travelling. In its current form it doesn't need a data connection to do the translation. (Also a plus when travelling!)
I just hope that now that they have jumped into bed with google they don't suddenly need a data connection.
I bet that it will use data connections in future perhaps with an offline fallback mode not only because it will improve the quality of the results but also because Google will be able to collect more data and market to more users and merchants. On the other hand it will probably be a free app because it enhances Android.
I think you are spot on
Great deal… Thank you for sharing!
What are the odds of them adding Chinese? I had used plenco for Chinese in the past but haven't purchased the text recognition component. You can still use the 'demo' which shows how it clearly identifies characters but doesn't give u the meaning.
I'm sure Google will put engineers to work on it.
It is 300 coins 'cashback' on amazon if thats any help https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/144761
Thank you SO much for letting me in on this amazing app. I LOVE visiting chinese areas and have always had plenty of asian friends, but when it comes to chinese language i am lost (despite having spent 4 years learning japanese lol).
I now cant wait to go to the chinese shops and streets i love to go to and allof a sudden not need help to read everything. Thank you so much
I did jap at high school then Chinese night classes last year. I also have a Taiwanese gf so having plenco helped when traveling to TW.
I'm sure it's a massive market especially for Google and I would be surprised if they didn't work on it. They already have the translations (roughly, even if the phrase 'add oil' randomly appears) and will just have to work on character recognition which plenco and others have. Plenco could pick up significant paragraphs of text so I'm keen to see if this app can do the same.
TBH i am kind of glad to be using something that doesnt send usage data to google for chinese. I am likely to use it quite a lot here in Australia thanks to our wonderful and vibrant immigrant culture and i dont really want one more layer of oogle monitoring lol.
I suspect a huge part of the attraction for google re: word lens is kind of similar - it gives english speakers in the US a window into the latino community in the US and to the south, and the french speakers on the east coast and to the north (as well as the german speakers but i suspect many of those may see it as an abomination lmao)
Somebody mentioned glass and i think that may have been a big part of the value too - using a free or included app to be able to instantly translate the spanish and french signs in their primary market utterly handsfree would add massive appeal to the device. I would not be surprised if it was integrated into glass' base install package.
cannot get it work on my asus tablet, took a picture and get it to translate and a blank is all i am getting
for chinese use Pleco - their translate is free right now - waygo is not (you get 10 free ones if you're quick enough to lock them).
Thanks so much for the heads up on this amazing app - even found that they had credit back on the OCR in app purchase on amazon https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/144761
Not compatible with your device ($25 Huawei Y201) & neither is Waygo
Reason to upgrade before next trip!
This and Pleco Seem to work pretty well with my Lenovo A820 and even better with my fiancee's ThL W8 Beyond if you want some rather 'appropriate' options that won't break the bank lol. The W8Beyond has a MUCH better camera that makes it a lot better for working with small print if that matters, can focus about an inch or 2 away. The a820 also lacks a flash, but its still a great phone. Wish i could use my samsung wifi camera for it lol.
This will be handy when I go to NZ
Very good idea.
Doesn't have the language I want yet.
but I am sure Google will add more soon.
Will download now while it's free.
Can't wait for the coming updates.
Great work OP!