Merriam-Webster just announced its new Dictionary API, which gives developers access to the full dictionary and thesaurus, along with more specialized content like medical, Spanish, ESL and student-targeted vocabulary lists. The API will let app makers integrate word definitions, etymologies, audio pronunciations and more. While this content will no doubt make it into a slew of educational apps, Merriam-Webster says it will also enhance word games, so maybe Scramble and Words with Friends will finally start accepting those obscure three-letter words you have up your sleeve.
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Merriam-Webster announces Dictionary API for developers, coming to a word game near you originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Related Posts:Question by Kapil: What is the equivalent of control+right click to launch wordweb dictionary in android ? In windows, we have wordweb software which allows us to open wordweb dictionary by doing control + right mouse click on a word in any program. Similary on android touch screen mobiles/tablets, what is the equivalent so that we could launch a dictionary app on a word from any other program/app in android.
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Answer by JimFast Android News and Free App here :
http://android.pandaapp.com/
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In an acknowledgement of the internet’s overwhelming influence on the triviality we sometimes refer to as “real life,” the Oxford English Dictionary doyens have decided to add a few of the web’s favorite pronouncements to their lexicon. Among them are the standouts OMG, LOL and FYI, joining their compatriots IMHO and BFF among the proud number of officially sanctioned initialisms (abbreviations contracted to the initials of their words) used in the English language. Shockingly enough, the expression OMG has had its history tracked all the way back to 1917, while LOL used to mean “little old lady” back in the ’60s, and FYI first showed up in corporate lingo in 1941. Not only that, but the heart symbol — not the <3 emoticon, the actual ♥ graphic — has also made it in. Just so long as Beliebers and fanpires are kept out, there’s still hope for the future. A tiny, twinkling ember of a hope.
OMG, FYI, and LOL enter Oxford English Dictionary, foreshadow the apocalypse originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Talk about timely. We’ve been waiting for months (with bated breath, might we add) for Pleco 2.2 to finally hit Apple’s App Store, and after dealing with a few launch day bugs last week, we can finally say it’s out and ready to dominate any Chinese homework you’ve been hastily procrastinating on. The Pleco Chinese Dictionary is now available in the app store at version 2.2.1, supporting both fullscreen handwriting input and live camera-based character recognition. Have a peek at the video past the break if you’re still curious as to what this app can do for you, and feel free to toss your experiences with it down in comments below. Here’s hoping this is only the first of many languages Pleco decides to tackle — not that we’re much on tossing out subtle hints.
Continue reading Pleco Chinese Dictionary iPhone app now handling real-time image translations
Pleco Chinese Dictionary iPhone app now handling real-time image translations originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Color e-reader, on which our opinions at CrunchGear are divided, represents the first major application of Dictionary.com’s new API tools. They launched them late last month, and I just spoke with Dictionary.com’s President, Shravan Goli, about their approach to modernizing the centuries-old market of providing definitions.
It’s a difficult proposition, and one that is being faced by a number of free or almost-free services out there. People won’t pay to have unfamiliar words defined for them, yet here is Dictionary.com, a thriving business. It’s one of the situations on the new web where monetizing seems to result directly from authority.
I won’t go on at length here since the free-to-users business model isn’t an original one, but I think Dictionary.com’s particular variant is interesting. They have an opportunity to provide an essential and ubiquitous layer to a huge number of devices and services, and they’re being pushed from the other side, too: if they don’t succeed, a solution will emerge that obsoletes them. In constantly shifting, global markets like web and mobile, there are only the quick and the dead.
Dictionary.com’s approach is to supererogate, providing more than a simple lookup service. I asked Shravan about the threat that is community-based knowledge like Wiktionary and other free dictionary projects. Engaging the community is important, he said, but the issues of authority and trust are especially applicable to a service like Dictionary.com’s. He sees it as the final word, the definitive answer, if you will, because there needs to be such a thing.
With that kind of clout, Dictionary.com can get away with charging for the privilege of using its libraries and APIs — using a tiered structure, of course, so Big Company pays more than Little iPhone Developer. You can go to developer.dictionary.com right now and check out what’s going on with the API, but let’s be honest, the site is mainly limited to providing definitions for words. You can see the fruits of their development community in the recently-announced Nook Color, and Shravan mentioned that they were working with “a few other big guys,” which he did not elaborate on — but it isn’t hard to fill in the blanks.
I know it’s not exactly headline news, but I just think that Dictionary.com is in a fairly interesting position in the market right now: a precarious domination that requires no small amount of vigilance to maintain. Like so many services based on access to a non-exclusive body of data, they are subject to attack from ground-up projects duplicating or improving their content. It’s a dated example, but Encarta was in a similar situation in some ways, and the rise of Wikipedia erased it from the earth. If Dictionary.com doesn’t stay on top of its game, the same could happen to them. They seem to be doing fine for now, but I look forward to seeing what kinds of contortions they’ll have to do to keep their position in the future.
P.S. — If you’re at all interested in words, check out their Hot Word blog. I like a good etymology now and then.
Can’t say we’ve heard of the Pleco Chinese Dictionary app prior to today even though it’s been around for two full version releases. Of course, we’ve seen plenty of Google Goggle-like smartphone apps that can snap pictures and then convert the image to text using optical character recognition (OCR) — something that can be incredibly useful when important stacks of business cards. Pleco 2.2, however, is one of the first apps we’ve seen that can translate text in real time using the live image presented on your phone’s camera display. The new feature, targeted for release in September, requires iOS 4 and should work with either the iPhone 4 or older 3GS. Sure, you might not need this app every day, but it might just be the difference between ordering chop suey or a thousand-year old egg garnished with a side of stinky tofu. See it in action after the break.
Continue reading Pleco 2.2 Chinese Dictionary uses iPhone camera to translate text in real time (video)
Pleco 2.2 Chinese Dictionary uses iPhone camera to translate text in real time (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Despite their clear commitment to the hardware version of the Kindle, Amazon continues to make the Kindle apps that run on the iPad and iPhone better. Today, version 2.2 of the app brings a full dictionary with it. This matches the functionality of Apple’s own iBooks app, but the Kindle implementation is even a little better.
Now in the Kindle app when you highlight a word, a definition will automatically appears at the bottom of the screen. And that’s not all — there you’ll also find links to further investigate the word on Google or Wikipedia. Though this dumps you out of the app and into the iPhone/iPad web browser, it’s a pretty nice feature.
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