Google Maps now helps you travel abroad like a local
A new feature on Google Maps can translate local reviews into your language.
- Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.
Google Maps translates local reviews into the default language set on your device.
Not understanding a foreign language can be one of the most challenging things about traveling abroad. This can be especially disconcerting when using a service like Google Maps to find a local restaurant or shop only to discover that all the reviews are in a different language.
Google Maps has made all this easier with a feature that translates the reviews and comments for local points of interest into your own language. In a blog post Monday on the company's website, Google Maps associate product manager DK Kang says that Google Maps will translate any reviews into the language you have set on your device.
"The best part is that you don't have to do a thing," he said. "Just open Google Maps or Search, search for what you're interested in and the reviews are automatically translated."
The update underscores Google's growing ambition for Google Maps to be more than just a destination for maps and directions. With more than a billion users, it's become a tool for local recommendations, real-time info on how busy a restaurant is, and a cheat sheet to remember where you parked your car. Last month, Google Maps unveiled a new feature called "location sharing" that lets you reveal your exact location to a contact for a certain period of time.
