Intercontinental Hotels Group announced it's launching an app for the Apple Watch that will allow tourists to translate languages around the globe.
The IHG Translator app, which will be released for the global launch of the Apple Watch on April 24, is based off a feature of the company's mobile app that helps users travel like a local in a different country. The new app works by speaking directly into the Apple Watch for translation from English into 13 languages or by choosing from a selection of common phrases such as "where is the bathroom" or "I'd like a beer."
The Apple Watch will then spit out the written translation, with phonetic spelling. You can even use slang or proper English and the watch will register.
It is a shame the voice-to-voice translation feature, which comes on the mobile app, won't be released immediately for the Apple Watch. Despite the lengthy sign-up time for the IHG Translator app on iPhone, its free version features some nifty tools such as a 'learn' and 'culture' section, with audio lessons and etiquette, that won't be on the smaller device.
The languages available at launch include Spanish, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Thai. We have no idea what Americans are going to do when they come to Australia and can't work out what a tracky dack is.