Google Translate just got what is essentially Word Lens. The new feature in the latest update of the Google Translate app lets you take a picture and highlight text you want translated from one language into another.
The translation is different from Word Lens in that it’s not live AR translation. You take a picture and then rub your finger over the words you need translated, and the app does its best to accomodate. Word Lens was never accurate enough to, say, use it to read a book or foreign movie credits, but the live-action translation means you don’t have to reset to get it right. This new Google Translate function makes you go all the way back to the beginning if you miss a crucial part of the translation. Here’s Word Lens translating the same image shown on Google Translate above:
Google Translate is free, while Word Lens is $5 per language pack. Both are available from Google Play. [Google Play via Android Central]