No more language barrier: Gmail gets auto-translation

Google has announced that its e-mail service, Gmail, will soon include an “automatic message translation” feature for all users.

Gmail is adding an auto-translation feature for all users.

“Over the next few days, everyone who uses Gmail will be getting the convenience of translation added to their email. The next time you receive a message in a language other than your own, just click on ‘Translate message’ in the header at the top of the message, and it will be instantly translated into your language,” said Jeff Chin, product manager, Google Translate, in a blogpost.

The search engine giant introduced the translate feature in Google Labs some years back, and has now decided to bring it to Gmail after the successful reception of the feature.

“Since message translation was one of the most popular labs, we decided it was time to graduate from Gmail Labs and move into the real world.”

If you get a mail in a foreign language, just click on ‘Translate message’ in the header at the top of the message, and it will be instantly translated into your language. If you’re bi-lingual and don’t need translation for that language, just click on Turn off.

“If you’d like to automatically have messages in that language translated into your language, click ‘Always Translate’. If you accidentally turned off the message translation feature for a particular language, or don’t see the Translate message header on a message, click on the down arrow next to Reply at the top-right of the message pane and select the Translate message option in the drop-down.”

In addition, Google is also introducing two more Gmail features including Smart Mute and Title Tweaks. And, Google will shut down some less popular features such as Old Snakey, Mail Goggles, Mouse Gestures, Hide Unread Counts, Move Icon Column, Inbox Preview, Custom Date Formats and SMS in Chat gadget.