Photo translation coming to Nokia N95

You already know that Nokia's N95 is a pretty sweet device--it can handle 3G and WiFi, 3D games and all the music and video you can throw at it. But if a new application in the works eventually makes it to market, the N95 could become a whole lot more useful for frequent travelers and ex-pats. The so-called Point&Find app allows you to take a photo of a word or phrase in a foreign tongue and have it translated back into your native language. The application uses GPS, image recognition and "artificial intelligence algorithms" to arrive at a translation. Sound too much like science fiction? According to Nokia, a prototype version of the application can already scan and translate 9000 Chinese words and 600 Japanese words--so you can finally stop wondering what's on that secret Chinese menu at your local take-out joint.

In other, less futuristic yet still exciting Nokia news, shareholders of GPS vendor NAVTEQ "overwhelmingly" voted to approve an acquisition that was announced by Nokia in October. This essentially clears the way for the $8.1 billion deal to go through, which makes us wonder if we might start seeing GPS as a standard feature in all high-end Nokia handsets in the near future.

For more on Nokia:
- see this Reg Hardware story on the translation software
- and this AP story on the NAVTEQ acquisition