Bing Translator on Nokia Lumia

GLOBAL – When travelling overseas there are sometimes barriers that get in the way of having fun, or just being able to survive in far-away lands. The main one is often the language. Bin that old dog-eared phrase book and instead step into the future, with the Bing Translator app – your very own personal assistant when it comes to understanding what’s being said, or what’s the menu.

Gone are the days of looking blankly at the menu in a foreign restaurant and relying on the pictures for reassurance. No longer do we need to thumb our way through an out-of-date travel guide for something that resembles a translation of “Which way to the train station?”. With the Bing Translator app for your Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 900, you’ll be able to spend more of your holiday-time with your feet up, relaxing.

When you’re looking at a menu, or a sign-post at a train station or airport in a foreign country, trying to understand the unusual arrangement of letters can often lead to stress and confusion. Using the camera option in this app will turn your camera’s viewfinder into a translation tool. It scans the text placed in front of it and swaps the words for ones that you’re more familiar with.

As useful as that is, sometimes you need to get your point across using the spoken word rather than a written one. This is when the voice function comes in very handy.

If you need to ask somebody where the nearest public toilet is, for example, just say it into the phone and you’ll be presented with a written version along with a speaker icon. When pressed this will read out your translated phrase in the language you’ve selected.

Alternatively, if you just want to quickly translate something, it may be easier to type the words in manually. You can do this using the keyboard function. Select what language you’re translating from and to, type in your text and voilà! The text has been deciphered.

In order for the translations to happen, you’ll need an internet connection. While this is all well-and-good in your local country where data costs are probably minimal, it can be a problem when overseas.

There is a solution, though. Bing Translator has the ability to download language packs for a number of countries, so it’s always a good idea to download these before you leave your native country.

Bing Translator is free and is available for your Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 900.

image credit: unhindered by talent