You're vacationing overseas and you don't speak the native language. In the old days, globetrotters might pull out a pocket English translation dictionary for the appropriate language whenever coming upon a road sign, menu or other text that required translation. A "machine translation" company called LinguaSys says it's come up with a more modern solution—a smartphone app launching Wednesday that can in seconds translate the words on your behalf when you take a picture of the unfamiliar words. Out of the gate, LinguaSys' $12.99 TGPhoto app will be available for Android phones with a built-in camera running version 2.1 of the software or later. A version for BlackBerrys (version 5.0 or greater) is due out any day now. An iPhone version is also in the works.

LinguaSys CEO Brian Garr says the app can handle about 50 languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian and several Asian languages. You have to tell the app what the source and target languages are for the sign you've taken the picture of: Garr says it takes about 5 seconds for the translation to appear on the screen, assuming a decent Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

There is no fee for the translation, which is handled back on LinguaSys's servers in the States. Though aimed at consumers who travel, Garr says he's talking to government agencies and enterprises about customizing the experience for them.

LinguaSys also recently released an Android app called TGMobile, which permits multilingual text-based real-time chat for up to 500 users in a chat room.The company has offices in Boca Raton, Fla., Germany and Australia.

By Ed Baig