Flexible display translation

Abstract

A user interface for displaying source data and a translated copy of a segment of the source data is provided. The user interface includes a first display portion for displaying at least a subset of the source data on the display. The user interface includes a second display portion for displaying a translated copy of a selected segment of source data on the display.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . In a computer system including a display, a method for displaying data comprising:
 obtaining source data comprising text for display;   displaying the source data in a user interface on the display, the source data being in a first language;   obtaining user input comprising an indication of a portion of the user interface, wherein the indicated portion of the user interface is identified by the position of an interface icon;   obtaining a segment of the text associated with the indicated portion of the user interface;   displaying on the display, in a display portion, a translated copy of the obtained segment of the text, the translated copy of the obtained segment being in a second language; and   as user input indicating movement of the interface icon is received, obtaining additional segments of the text based on the interface icon hovering over additional portions of the user interface and presenting translated copies of the additional segments in the display portion, wherein the display portion, when presenting a translation of a segment of the source data, is positioned on the display adjacent such segment of the source data such that the display portion appears to follow the interface icon.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interface icon comprises a mouse cursor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source data comprises a text file or text for display as part of a web page. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein displaying the source data comprises:
 displaying the source data in a first portion of the display, wherein displaying the translated copy of the obtained segment of the text comprises displaying the translated copy of obtained segment in a second portion of the display.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , the method further comprising:
 obtaining a selection of a display control;   in response to the selection of the display control:
 displaying the translated copy in the first portion of the display; and 
 displaying in the second portion of the display the obtained segment of the text. 
   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein displaying the source data in the first portion of the display includes associating a background color to the first portion indicative of the first language as an original language of the source data. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first portion of the display is vertically arranged above the second portion of the display or horizontally adjacent to the second portion of the display. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first portion of the display encompasses the entire display and where the second portion of the display is located within a portion of the first portion of the display. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the second portion of the display is semi-transparent. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a subset of the source data corresponds to a third language, the method further comprising:
 obtaining a selection of a segment of the source data corresponding to the third language; and   displaying a translated copy of the selected segment of the source data in the second language.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source data is obtained from a server over a wide area network. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source data corresponds to data stored on a local computing device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the obtained segment of the source data is obtained through a functionality of an operating system on the computer system, the functionality providing text associated with a portion of a user interface. 
     
     
         14 . A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable components for displaying data comprising:
 source data comprising user interface elements and text, the text comprising a plurality of words;   a source-data component for displaying on a display at least a subset of the source data by rendering on the display at least one of the user interface elements and at least a portion of the text, wherein the source data is presented in a first language;   a translation control; and   a translated-data component for displaying, in response to user selection of the translation control, a translated copy of a selected segment of the displayed source data on the display, the selected segment of the source data being identified during an operation that positions an interface icon over a portion of the displayed subset of the source data without further user input to select the portion of the displayed subset of the source data, wherein the selected segment comprises a group of words and the translated copy of the source data is presented in a second language.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the interface icon comprises a mouse cursor. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the source-data portion and the translated-data portion are arranged adjacent on the display. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the translated-data portion is arranged adjacent to the selected segment of the source data from the source-data portion. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface elements correspond to an image, a button control, a toolbar control, a menu bar control, a text field, and/or a drop-down list. 
     
     
         19 . In a computer system including a display, a method for displaying data comprising:
 displaying, on the display, source data in a user interface, the source data comprising text in a first language;   obtaining user input comprising an indication of a portion of the user interface, wherein the indicated portion of the user interface is identified at least in part by the position of an interface icon;   obtaining a segment of the text associated with the indicated portion of the user interface; and   displaying, on the display, a translated copy of the obtained segment of the text in a display portion that has a background color that visually differentiates the display portion from a display area containing the displayed source data, wherein the translated copy of the obtained segment is in a second language; and   receiving user input indicating motion of the interface icon, and, in response, changing the indicated portion of the user interface such that the display portion appears to follow the interface icon; and   changing the obtained segment that appears translated in the display portion as the position of the interface icon changes.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the interface icon comprises a mouse cursor.