Since its debut last April, the free Bing Translator app for Windows Phone has quickly become one of the most popular apps in the Store, with more than a million downloads and a solid 4-star-plus average rating. As Bing’s Search Blog notes, the app has now been updated for Windows Phone 8.
In case you’re not familiar, the app makes it easy to quickly translate street signs, posters, train or bus schedules, and restaurant menus—just by pointing your phone’s camera at them. The app—which supports Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish—also does some other neat tricks, which you can see in the video demo below. My favorite: travelers can download languages and phrase books to their phone, to save roaming charges and access the app offline.
The new Windows Phone 8 version includes a new translator Lens, a handy shortcut for quickly making sure you’re jumping on the right Shanghai bus or ordering the vegetable dumplings. It’s never been so easy to be a polyglot. Download now