Google to update Translate app with real-time speech translation support, new report claims

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Recent reports suggest Google is all set to roll out an updated version of its Google Translate app for Android to add real-time speech translation feature.

According to a report on The New York Times, the updated app will auto-recognize popular languages and translate them into text in real time. The new Android app will allow people to converse in different languages, by displaying what is being said on a smartphone or computer screen.

Although its not clear which languages are defined by Google as “popular languages” but it expected that the app could incorporate up to 90 languages that are currently available through Google Translate.

Google said that its Translate app has been installed more than 100 million times on Android phones and that most of these apps will get the speech update.

“We have 500 million active users of Translate every month, across all our platforms,” said Macduff Hughes, the engineering director of Google Translate.

Meanwhile, the report claims that the search giant is also planning to release an app that will that translates foreign text into a user’s native language using a smartphone camera. This new app will enable users to hold their phones up to a foreign street sign or a menu card and get it translated to their chosen language in real-time.

There’s no word on when the new version of the Google Translate app will be made available.