Translator for the Palm Pre is a polished and useful app that integrates with Google’s translation service to bring you fast translations between a very wide range of languages in both directions. Translator presents a simple interface to pick the original language and enter a phrase or sentence which you want to translate. You can then pick the language you want it to be translated to or switch between the pair with a single tap. Translation is fast and accurate. The app can take in relatively large sentences, with the text input fields expanding to accept larger sentences. There are a few interface quirks – tapping on the language will present a list of scrollable languages, but tapping on the “Translate From” text, which is on the same field will not pull up the same menu. 

You can also send the translation to a friend via email or text message. The app automatically launches the right application to do that. There’s one final unintuitive aspect to the interface: once you pick and set both your languages, the button below the place where you enter your sentence is “Switch” instead of “Translate.” Once I’m done typing the sentence, my fingers immediately try to hit the button right below the sentence. Instead, you have to go all the way to the bottom to hit the right button. Other than these quirks, which no doubt we’ll all forget once we start using the app, Translator is a functional and useful Palm Pre app and can come in very handy while traveling or interacting with people from different countries.