Google has recently upgraded its translation engine to include real-time information as well as lots of options for romanization (for Asian languages). What impresses me most is that of the free translation engines I've seen, this one seems to be the most accurate. For example, I used the English slang "cool" in the example below. Rather than translating that word to mean "chilly" or "cold," it used context to produce the meaning I intended: "fantastic."
Google has been hard at work launching a number of products that journalists should take notice of. At the top of my list are:
- Google Reader Play: Turns RSS into a TV-like viewing experience.
- FastFlip: Lets you "flip" through front pages of websites as you would the pages of a magazine.
- Google News Archive: You can now search through 100+ years of newspaper articles.
- Spotlight: Google News now aggregates long-form journalism.
- Google Goggles: Google's own augmented reality mobile search tool. (Phones running Android only.)
And there's more on the horizon, like Google TV. What do you make of all these new developments at Google? How will they affect journalism and our local communities? Please share your thoughts and we can discuss below!
Amy Webb is a digital media consultant and head of Webbmedia Group, LLC. She has also launched Knowledgewebb, a new website for multimedia training. You can also follow Amy on Twitter and Foursquare. Webbmedia Group is a vendor-neutral company. Any opinions expressed about products or services are formed after testing, research and interviews. Neither Amy Webb nor Webbmedia Group or its employees receives any financial or other benefits from vendors.