Google Translate Now Available on the iPhone

Google’s popular translate tool now has its very own iPhone app.
The company has had a Google Translate HTML5-based web app for quite some time, but Google Translate has now been given the full app treatment.
Among other enhancements, Google Translate for the iPhone allows users to speak their translation requests. With speak-to-translate support for 15 languages at launch, the Google Translate app makes a big splash in the mobile translation niche…
Google did an impressive job with this new app. Like all Google apps, the interface is very clean. And the app functions exactly the way it’s supposed to.
The coolest thing about the Google Translate app is hands down the “speak to translate” feature.

I was curious as to whether this feature actually worked well, so I tried giving it a simple phrase that I would actually need it to translate in a real life situation. It understood perfectly and worked lighting fast.

Google Translate will also speak your translation back to you. If you tap the little speaker icon next to your translation, the same speech synthesizer voice from the desktop version will say your translation back to you. This is great if you’re unfamiliar with how to pronounce what you want to say. (Get ready beatboxers.)
Like the pre-existing web app, you can type in your phrase or word and choose from a large list of translatable languages. Dictionary results can also be displayed for single words.
Translations can be “starred” for quick reference (in case you have to ask where the bathroom is more than once while you’re in Mexico), and there’s even a full-screen mode for easy communication with that African warrior that’s considering having you for dinner.
Google Translate is available for free in the App Store. As one of the best mobile translation tools to date, it’s definitely worth a download.
What do you think about the Google Translate app? Pretty cool, huh? Do you use any other similar tools on the iPhone?