From ramen shops to sushi stands, there’s no doubt that eating out is big business in Japan. But authentic, local dining is off-limits to many foreigners due to the formidable language barrier that persists outside major cities. Could an app get tourists to pick up the chopsticks?

Stuck in a Paris patisserie, desperate to figure out how to ask for those canelés you’ve been eyeing up? With Google’s new futuristic translation services, you’ll be able to say what you want into your phone – or use your camera to translate the menu.

It’s becoming increasingly common for people to express themselves through visual media and illustrations, and some are even embracing visual media as a teaching tool. Digital natives are throwing out the traditional educational textbooks and going for something more visual.

Everyone's an entrepreneur. Six blog posts are uploaded to WordPress every second, and 10,000 new businesses are registered each week in the UK. But who can afford a pro designer? Canva is democratising design – but can it really let ‘cottage industries’ compete with big business?