Latest Chrome Release Adds Automatic Translation

The latest stable version of Google’s Chrome browser adds the ability to translate web pages on the fly. It also adds a rich set of privacy controls to fine-tune your browsing experience. Keep in mind that this is the latest stable version, so you don’t have to worry about dealing with beta or alpha software (which might be buggy) to get these new features. I remember using Altavista way back in the day to translate text. You had to cut/paste into a box, choose which language the text was in (if you even knew) and then choose the output language. This was pretty much a pain and made 2-way dialog extremely slow.

While Google has made translating websites easier since then, it’s never been as simple as with this latest Chrome release. Google supports translations across 52 languages and automatically detects the language of a website for you. This is a big step since, if you could identify what the language looks like, you probably already know how to read it. Now, there is no need to even identify what you’re looking at. Google figures it out and can automatically translate the page for you in a fraction of a second. Of course, Google will ask you if you want to translate the page first.

I think this simple feature is another step in the right direction as far as making the world a little smaller and opening lines of communications across different countries and cultures. Having the feature built right into the browser can take the burden off of the content creator and the visitor, making it a seamless and consistent experience to read websites in languages other than your own. Google seems to agree:

With this new stable release of Chrome, you can easily read a diversity of foreign language information sources, access educational materials from universities around the world, and even conduct online commerce across borders and languages — all in your native language. We hope that the browser can truly be a passport to a web that is remarkably local as it is global. -Google Translate Blog

Google doesn’t share any information from your local computer until you choose to actually translate something. Do you read sites in other languages? Will this latest Chrome release push you to do so?

About the Author
Rahsheen has been a certified geek since before it was the thing to do. He started programming and tinkering in the 4th grade. Now, Rahsheen mostly writes on various sites about technology trends in social media and mobile. . He is also a musician, singer, rapper, writer, and producer. @rahsheen - +Rahsheen Porter - coachrah.com
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