Google Translate phone app is very cool

[William Seger]

... and useful! I got a cheap 4K action camera, an Xiaomi Seabird, and it came with a Chinese users manual and a default setting to show menus in Chinese. I scoured the web for about 15 minutes without finding any info on how to change that before remembering that the Google Translate phone app has a mode that allows you to just point the phone's camera at text and it will figure out the language and translate it. I pointed it at the camera's main menu, scrolled down a bit and sure enough there was a Language setting which could be changed to English. A quick check showed that the app could also translate the users manual. I can now actually use the camera!

Say what you will about Google (and I do), they have some mighty impressive software.

[jberryhill]

1. Cheap action cams are great

Why would you pay hundreds of dollars for a camera that you are going to stick onto your kayak paddle or whatever.

[William Seger]

2. ... or stick on a drone that flys away.

I won't be buying any more GoPros.

[at140]

3. The Google Translator caused much mis-understanding for me

with my Chinese girl friend. Besides it is cumbersome to use. I like those translators where you speak in English and it speaks back in the language of your choice.

[William Seger]

4. Google Translate does that, but I don't know how good it is

[at140]

6. Is that phone App or on computer?

I use only the computer for Google translate. It does a fair job, but sometimes it is bad translation.
That is expected because many English sentences have no direct Chinese translation feasible.

[William Seger]

7. The phone app; Android or iOS

[at140]

8. Thanks a bunch! I will give it a try! eom

[Afromania]

5. I had to use it at work. A piece of equiptment came in with Chinese as the default language.

Watching it translate the menus in real time was pretty neat. What could have been a few hours of annoyance was done in about ten minutes.