Word Lens by Questvisual : Instant translation app for iPhone

Instantly translate printed words from one language to another with your built-in video camera, in real time! 

Word Lens, an app that translates English text to and from Spanish on the fly, is a reminder of just how powerful apps can be. But how's it really work? It ain't perfect, but it's still pretty damn amazing.

I pointed Word Lens at all the Spanish I could find—the taco truck down the street, a Spanish-language newspaper, some signs on Google Street View and Google images—and I have to say that I was pretty amazed by how well it performed. Sure, sometimes words jump around like shapeshifters on crack, translating and retranslating rapidly as you jiggle the camera. And of course the translations are just done word by word, resulting in broken sentences that rarely have any semblance of correct syntax. But if you come into it with your expectations in check, Word Lens is still a terrific feat in mobile computing, even if its futuristic WOW quotient is, for now, a bit greater than its real world usefulness.

The app, which was released this morning by a company called QuestVisual, was two and half years in the making, according to founders Otavio Good and John DeWeese. Good admitted to TechCrunch that the "translation isn't perfect, but it gets the point across," and said that French, Italian, and Portuguese were likely candidates for future updates. But even without knowing what updates lie ahead for Word Lens, it's already an undeniably exciting taste of the future, one of the rare apps that transforms our smartphones into something entirely new.

Description
Instantly translate printed words from one language to another with your built-in video camera, in real time! Use Word Lens on vacation, business travel, and just for fun.

Language pairs currently available with in-app purchase: 
- Spanish to English (Launch Sale: 50% Off - expires Dec 31)
- English to Spanish (Launch Sale: 50% Off - expires Dec 31)

Try out the included modes first so you can see the technology in action:
- Reverse Words (spell all words backwards)
- Erase Words (advanced digital white-out technology)

Word Lens gives you translation on the go:
- NO NETWORK required - results appear immediately on your video screen when you need it, anywhere in the world.
- Easy to use, like the regular camera
- Look up translations by typing them in, too

Get the best quality out of your translations:
- best used on clearly printed text (e.g. signs, menus)
- does NOT recognize handwriting or stylized fonts
- it's not perfect, but you can get the general meaning!
- keep text in focus by holding it at least one hand-length away

Device requirements:
- iPhone 4, iPhone 3gs, or iPod Touch with video camera
- iOS 4.0 or later
*** iPhone 3gs and iPod Touch do not have zoom or flash light features
*** iPod Touch camera does not have auto-focus feature

Find out how it works