Our rating: By: Penpower Technology Ltd. Version #: 2.1.0 Date Released: 2011-04-08 Developer: Price: 4.99 User Rating: Loading... Loading... Download App

I’ve reviewed language translation programs for the iPhone before. The trick with them is the OCR technology in using the iPhone camera doesn’t quite translate perfectly on the fly, but it’s getting better.

Unlike Word Lens, the previous program I reviewed, Worldictionary doesn’t keep it’s word database locally. A network connection of some sort is required for translation. This could be an issue if you travel internationally a lot and don’t have an iPhone that works globally. You would need a WiFi connection to translate.

On the other hand, Worldictionary includes many, many more languages for the same price. Even languages with non-Western alphabets like Chinese and Hebrew are included.

In testing, the program seemed to work by throwing words with similar spellings into the real-time translator on the screen’s lower right and allows you to select the word you’re actually looking at. From there, it gives the definition and uses in a sentence in the target language. Keep in mind that any stylized letters will not translate. However, the app does include the capability of typing in the word you want to translate (which can also be done with the free app Google Translate).

The app can also snap a picture of a word or sign for later translation and has access to sites such as Google, Wikipedia and YouTube for research. As a note, the app only works on the iPhone and not the iPad or iPod touch. The more sophisticated camera of the iPhone has a superior auto-focus which the app requires to work.

The app has several other features all of which are covered in the excellent help section. Overall, it’s worth the five dollar investment if trapped in a strange land.