It was sometime last year when Google Translate for Android was introduced to the world of handwriting input, and earlier this year, Google Input Tools on desktop was updated through the inclusion of additional new virtual keyboards, input method editors, and transliteration input tools. It seems that progress is constant, and to remain behind would be folly, as the input tools have taken another step further today where handwriting input is now part and parcel of the Google Translate homepage.
Basically, handwriting input would allow you to translate a written expression, never mind that you do not know how to type the characters. For instance, should you stumble upon the Chinese expression “饺子” and would want to know just what it means in English and have no idea on writing it, just draw these characters on your screen, and you will be served an equivalent translation. Well, this is definitely an extremely welcome feature, especially when it comes to different kinds of languages that do not use Romanized characters. Apart from Chinese, Arabic comes to mind, too. What other languages can you think of?
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