Microsoft has released a whole load of productivity apps for Apple Watch and Android Wear smartwatches, some new and some just updated. If you’re using it on an Android smartphone or tablet, Microsoft Translator doesn’t seem to be offering significant advantages over Google’s own Translate app. However, the fact that Microsoft Translator is available on Android Wear is certainly a plus, as Google has yet to launch a Translate app for smartwatches.
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So how does it stack up? “So before you hit the road this summer, be sure to pack your Android Wear watch and your favorite travel apps”. Using a Force Touch gesture, simply speak your mind and it will automatically add it to your todo list.
So, should you be in Sweden and need to find a bathroom, say what you want translated to Microsoft Translator, and then hold out your phone or watch for others to hear the translation. The One Drive app will now allow you to set a watch face which will cycle through uploaded photos from the past 30 days. You can speak directly into your watch to get an instant translation in any of the 50 different languages.
It can also read out your translations in some supported languages, like Spanish and Simplified Chinese.
Android Wear apps rely on some fairly generic swipes, swipe right for more, left for back or to close for instance, and there’s not much you can do with an interface, really.
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While the Translator app could be useful for vacation travelers, it’s easy to see how business users might benefit from it as well. But otherwise, it provided text and speech for most of the languages I chose.
