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ROK Lingo Translation – iPhone App Review
ROK Lingo Translation – iPhone App Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
ROK Lingo Translation
Version 2
Review – “Multi Language Translator that speaks your translations, easy to use.”
App developer: Rok Media
Website: http://www.rokent.com/
ROK Media has created a simple but very useful App that translates any text into several languages and recites them aloud on your iPhone for traveling, communication, business – you name it.
This App could not be simpler. Insert your text on top, select which language to translate it into and the text appears below, with the option to hear the App speak it to you. The languages included in version 2 are English, French, Spanish, German, Turkish and Catalan.
From what I could tell each Language had its own built-in female voice that read the translated text, however because I’m not as fluent in French or Spanish as I’d like to be, I couldn’t really tell if the pronunciations were correct or not. It’s probably safe to assume that a native speaker would be able to figure out what you are saying by you mimicking the voice – or you could always play the audio for whomever you’re trying to communicate with. Although, you could always show them the translated text as well. So there’s a multitude of uses for this program.
An addition use that I didn’t realize until much later was that English is one of the included Languages that you can Translate to. Meaning, that if you find some street sign, instructions, or information in one of the supported languages you can translate it back to English with this App too.
Also, fantastic news for speakers of the other languages, because this is the perfect App for traveling to English Speaking countries – the audio speaking voice of the English Speaker is crystal clear – as good as any Text to Audio I’ve ever heard.
Right now Rok has the Lingo Translation App on sale for 1/2 off – only $0.99 so you should pick it up while now, while it’s still cheap. You never know when you’ll need it, especially if you travel often!
~ChantelleJoy
Follow Me: @ChantelleJoytwt
© 2010, iPhone and iPad app reviews. All rights reserved. An expedite fee may have been paid for some reviews. We work diligently to ensure that this does not affect the content of the review and strive to keep the journalistic integrity intact. All reviews are the personal opinion of the reviewer.
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ROK Lingo
Foodictionary: Tongue and Lengua at the Tip of Your Finger
Foodictionary: Tongue and Lengua at the Tip of Your Finger is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website
Price: $4.99 Score 8/10 By J.R.Maldonado
I thought I wouldn’t need to brush up on my food Spanish before honeymooning in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and a carnivore’s rumpus room. I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. (And I’m a native speaker!) Had either the iPhone or iPad Touch been available then, I wouldn’t have needed to furtively glanced at the accompanying English-language translations and gotten flack from new bride (who also should’ve known better, being Latina). Foodictionary :: International Food & Beverage Translator by Magenta would certainly have been on my must-download list of apps.
As I already noted, I am a Spanish speaker. This review of Foodictionary will use examples from the Spanish-English translations. However, I know enough Italian to state that the my observations ring true for that language, and, by extension, all the languages contained in this food-translation application.
With seven languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Greek) a tap of the figure away, the translations available are exhaustive and should make Foodictionary the bread-and-butter food-translation app for those traveling to countries where the seven European languages are prevalent. But Foodictionary can serve more than those jetsetters and backpackers traveling abroad, as the developer states on it’s iTunes App Store page. It’s of practical use in areas of the United States where some restaurants (mostly Mexican) don’t have English-language menus.
The breadth of the information is impressive. For each of the seven languages accessible, there are 12,5000 terms in over 40 categories. The categories don’t stop at appetizers, proteins, desserts and beverages, either. Foodictionary goes the extra mile, including categories for cuts of meat (beef, lamb, pork and veal), spices (e.g., clavél/clove) and terms for style of preparation (a la parrilla/grilled). If you take a fancy to a particular dish, Foodictionary allows the user to save entries as favorites. Let’s say, you’re in Spain and were surprised by the richness of the lasaña de salami puré de ajo (salami lasagne with garlic purée). Save the entry, take the time to memorize it, or when you walk into another restaurant show the captain or waiter the listing by way of requesting the plate.
Of course, with such breadth (12,500 terms per tongue), some nuance and phrases are expected to be lost down Foodictionary’s drain. Under meat, beef is listed as Vaca. Yes, vaca is cow in Spanish, and beef comes from cows. However, carne and carne de res are the general terms for beef. And there are more errors, and some are whoppers. Under beverages, hot water is egregiously mistranslated as agua fría. Fría means cold in Spanish. Not hot. Hot is caliente. This error is so not caliente. There are also duplicate listings for terms (e.g., a la parrilla).
While there are mistakes in Foodictionary, the app overall is a tool that will lead to much joyous dining. The entries would also benefit greatly from images. Pictures would allow the user a fuller experience akin to the experience of eating — that is, multisensory. Also, the addition of Chinese to the language database would be a welcomed in the next update. China is an economic and culture powerhouse, attracting businessmen and post-grads, alike. Besides, if you’re in a Chinatown hole in the wall, maybe you could finally decipher the Chinese-only menus tacked on the wall.
Before you book a flight to visit Lenin’s tomb or the Acropolis or to any place where the languages included in this app are spoken, do your stomach a favor — download Foodictionary. Bon apetito!
Foodictionary requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later and is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch. A small fee was paid by the developer to expedite the publication of this review.
iTranslate Plus – iPhone App Review
New Version of myLanguage Pro Shows Improvement
New Version of myLanguage Pro Shows Improvement is a post from: Best Iphone App Review Website
Price: $4.99 Rating: 8/10 By Michelle Schusterman
Creating a truly useful language translation app requires constant building, changing, and adding – and myLanguage, Inc. is apparently up for the challenge.
We reviewed their application, myLanguage Pro, over a month ago, stating that this app “shows a lot of promise with some improvements.” And in the latest version (1.1), those improvements are here.
The biggest complaint with the original app was the lack of transliteration – meaning that words in one language’s alphabet were not provided in the user’s native alphabet. For example, let’s say you wanted to find the word “beer” in Korean. The correct word is unfortunately not much help unless you can read the Hangul alphabet.
This is by far the biggest improvement on the new version of myLanguage Pro. Once your word is translated, just toggle the “transliteration” button on, and voila: maekju. You’re ready to hit the bars in Seoul.
Having transliteration as an option is vital to any decent language translation program. If you need to speak, words written a foreign alphabet aren’t going to do you any good. However, chances are unless you’re pretty familiar with the language, you won’t be understood even if you do speak! It’s times like that when having the phrase you need spelled out in its native alphabet right there on your iPhone for a helpful local to read is extremely handy.
The other major complaint from the earlier version was the audio. myLanguage Pro now has twenty languages with audio translation available, up from six in the last version. The sound quality is fairly good, with a few languages sounding a bit more garbled than others. As far as the accents are concerned, it seems pretty authentic – of course, I don’t speak all of these languages, so I can’t vouch for each one! I know Portuguese and tried out quite a few phrases on this app. Only one sounded a bit odd, but the rest were accurate.
The interface is still very easy to navigate, with a few extra features. The history button allows you to find your most recent translations quickly, and once you have a translation it’s easy to email. You can also rate each translation you make to help the developers improve the quality and accuracy, and if you think they should add a language, they are accepting suggestions.
As a frequent traveler, I would definitely say this app is quite useful. Because of the developer’s attentiveness to concerns, and due to the vast improvement made from the last version, I’m sure myLanguage Pro will only get better and better.
myLanguage Pro requires the iPhone OS 2.2 or later and is compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch.
