Microsoft is very busy on the Android app front. It has launched a version of its Translator app for both Android and Android Wear, while also updating its OneDrive Android Wear app. Finally, it has released a major revamp of its OneNote Android Wear app.
Here's a quick look at the app's features for both phone and Android Wear:
- On your watch: Speak to your watch and get an instant translations in 50 languages
- Not sure how to pronounce the translation? Let Translator speak the phrase for you.
- Noisy environment? Just show someone your watch or phone. In addition, on the phone, large full-screen translation cards make it easy to show others what you're trying to communicate
- Bookmark your translations for later use
- All your translations are synchronized between your watch and your phone, settings too
- On the phone companion app, in addition to speech translations from your watch's language, you can select other speech languages or you can type on your keyboard (really useful for noisy places!). You can also copy & paste translations from and to other apps
Here's what's new in the OneDrive Android Wear app:
"The new OneDrive for Android Wear brings many improvements. Among the highlights, with the new OneDrive watch face, every time you activate your watch, you'll see a great photo from the last 30 days. It's a fun way to personalize your watch with new photos rotating through every month. And with OneDrive notifications on your watch, you'll always be up-to-date on edits made to shared documents.
Finally, here's what you can expect from the new update to the Android Wear OneNote app:
With OneNote for Android Wear on your wrist, it's now even easier to stay organized and keep track of your notes. You spoke, we listened. Now, in addition to dictating a new note with the ease of saying "Ok Google, take a note," you can see your most recently viewed notes right on your watch. No more balancing acts are needed between your phone and whatever else is keeping your hands full.
Download Microsoft Translator from the Google Play Store
Download Microsoft OneDrive from the Google Play Store
Download Microsoft OneNote from the Google Play Store
Source: Microsoft
Reader comments
Microsoft launches Translator for Android, updates OneDrive and OneNote for Android Wear
I'm curious why would anyone on Android use these alternatives to native applications?
Posted via the Android Central App
Why would someone use Google Chrome over MS native web browser on Windows?
Posted via the Android Central App
I can only speak for myself... I use chrome because of the integration into the Google ecosystem, synchronization with my phone etc. For me to use for example a different translation app than Google's own translate it would have to be a superior application. Hard to believe that Google would let that happen. I'm all for more choices, I'm simply curious.
Posted via the Android Central App
Don't you think the same would speak for people who use MS services?
Posted via the Android Central App
Absolutely, except they can just get a Windows phone if the Microsoft ecosystem is important to them.
Posted via the Android Central App
Well one could get a chromebook too if the ecosystem was that important...
That what makes options and competition wonderful.
Posted via the Android Central App
Because one could find them better to him ?
Posted via the Android Central App
I just installed the translator app, because Google Translate doesn't work on Android Wear. I've gotta say, it looks damn nice.
Okay. Gonna give this a try
Posted from my Samsung Galaxy S6
Because of options.
Sugoi!
Posted via Samsung Galaxy S6
Impressive.
Why do they bother with Windows 10 phones when their apps are becoming increasingly better on other platforms
Posted via the Android Central App
I have a friend who just got a windows phone to try out and he said the same thing. He said it was a nice phone, the "launcher" or what we call the launcher was nice but it was annoying that like the outlook app and other things were nicer on Android. He thought maybe when Windows 10 is released that would change but for now it is that way which makes it seem Microsoft isn't taking their phone side of thigs very seriously.
All I know is that Lumia 950 is gonna be one of the best phone to release this year.
Posted via the Android Central App
I have a lumia 822 as a backup
Posted via the Android Central App
Microsoft is a services company first so they are doing the right thing by supporting all platforms. When you are a services company then the user base should be priority. Unlike Google who refuses to make their services available on Windows Phone. Shame on Google for blocking Windows Phone from their services. In addition to playing dirty Google isn't servicing the user base on all platforms. Kudos to Microsoft for making the user first priority. It's also a smart business move.
Posted via the Android Central App
It's not worth it for Google to make Windows apps. User base is so small........
Then explain why Microsoft wrote their own premium experience YouTube app and Google asked them to pull it from the store making them revert back to the web wrapper app Microsoft originally wrote?
Posted via the Android Central App
Didn't know about that, but wouldn't that violate copyright laws? (Not sure, just a possibility)
Posted via my amazingly smexy Nexus 6 yo
Or when WP was getting popular and people wanted to Google search the web browser still went to the WAP version.
The only thing Google made was a sub par Search app. If the user base is so small why bother with a search app?
Google has been doing alot of unfair practices and has made it known they don't like MS. They are essentially doing the same thing Apple did to Google in the beginning.
Posted via the Android Central App
Watch the video on this page TacoKingYo: http://mashable.com/2013/01/05/google-maps-windows-phone/
Read the explanation by Google in the article, and then play the video and see how they got caught red-handed. Everyone except WP users looked the other way and said how great Google is.
I forgot to mention earlier, that when Google blocked that Microsoft Youtube app over not being built in HTML5, not displaying ads, and for allowing saving of videos to the device, there were at least 2 third party apps that did this in the Windows Phone store and those apps are still there today. They have made a few changes(can preload videos, not save) but they are still there.
Another link to another article that explains it very well and shows 3 other instances where Google ceased to play nice and just pissed off end users like me:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/05/calling-shenanigans-on-googles-...
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/12/15/googles-sync-changes-are-goin...
That is all.
I have since switched my email, calendar and cloud storage away from Google.
It feels funny seeing Microsoft becoming the good guys.
You've gone and drank the Kool-Aid haven't you? TJWINS gave you the reason why this user base argument is invalid and yet you went and regurgitated the line that the user base is "too small".
So Google should not cater to their own customers simply because the Windows phone user base is "too small"? They have literally millions of users that have Windows phones that cannot fully access Google's services simply because Google is withholding those services as an anti-competitive maneuver. Whatever happened to fair competition? Why does Google need to stifle Windows phone's growth rather than competing fairly?
Google lost me as a user over these actions as well as my fiancée. Our iPad, S5 and Lumia 929 all have Bing as default and have been purged of Google applications. There was a very nice Windows phone Youtube app that actually was better than Google's own android app until they shut it down. They shut it down because Microsoft did not write the app in HTML5 the last time, AFTER Microsoft had complied and removed the ability to download videos directly to the device. After Microsoft allowed the app to display ads... but because this ONE VERSION was not written in HTML 5 (neither were the iOS or Android versions) Google removed it from the Windows phone store.
The "too small" argument is convenient but if you'd stop for just a second and see how Google has behaved towards Microsoft (without which Google likely would not exist) you probably wouldn't follow them so blindly.
Also, there is heavy bias in the media. WIndows 10's privacy settings are all over the news lately, being panned for collecting data with the users permission but that is Google's entire operating strategy. Why doesn't anyone say anything negative about them then?
People tend to follow what's popular and the masses have chosen Google as their Messiah. Enjoy your phones but don't come in here and parrot off a response about it not being worth Google's time. Google Glass, Google+, Wave and that barge off the coast of San Francisco, CA were monumental wastes of time.
They can't take the time to write an app that would have kept me and likely at least a million others using their services? Pssh.
I'm so enjoying my office 365 on Linux Mint.........
Posted via Android Central App
Ugh I want a desktop just so I can run Linux Mint on it..... (I have the OS saved on a flash drive in my room right now, begging me to just build my desktop so I can load her up)
Posted via my amazingly smexy Nexus 6 yo
Impressive.
Posted via the Android Central App
Most impressive.
Posted via the Android Central App
Very impressive. Now if only Google played nice and returned the favor to the Windows Store it would be great.
Posted via the Android Central App
Ya man. With Windows 10 become universal OS. Google has no reason to left out windows phone. If they want the bigger bait (PC market share) hope Microsoft strategy gonna this time.
Posted from my Samsung Galaxy S6
Google is just playing dirty and im a windows fanboy came from windows central and i want to say that scroogle doesnt care about us windows users.. and i dont know why Microsoft is still playing nice with Scroogle offering its gorgeous apps to its crapdroid.
Ikr. Google can leave out windows phone because of its small market share. But Microsoft can't afford to do that. I hope things change with windows 10. Hey even I'm a windows fanboy. I use the mighty Lumia 520.