updated 01:06 pm EDT, Thu August 9, 2012
As-you-type translation, speech dialect also added
The Android version of Google Translate can now translate text generated from a camera. In v2.5 of the app, available on Google Play, tapping a camera icon turns the bottom half of the screen into a viewfinder. After taking a picture, areas of text for translation are highlighted, and the results shown above the original content.
In order to take advantage of the feature, people must be using a device with Android 2.3 or greater. The concept is similar to a rival app, Word Lens, however the latter performs translation without connecting to a server, and also replaces visible text in a video feed with the translated version.
Other upgrades to Google Translate include as-you-type translation, and the ability to specify preferred dialects for speech input. Japanese character interpretation has been improved, and is now capable of recognizing multiple characters at once. [via Android Central]