Baidu has launched a third-party keyboard app called TalkType designed for Android devices and will be optimized for voice input.

TalkType was developed by Baidu Research, the Beijing-based division of Chinese search company Baidu, which prioritizes voice input over typing.

It appeared first at the Google Play Store in the United States a few months ago. The creators of the app have added features such as support for swiping on the keyboard, restaurants from Yelp, and sending animated GIFs from Giphy, Venture Beat reported. In addition, its virtual microphone listens "for a longer period of time before automatically shutting off."

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According to Baidu, TalkType can enter text three times faster compared to people who put it with normal smartphone keyboard typing. The app is different because it features "a large microphone front-and-center in the application."

“TalkType is the first full-function smartphone keyboard that is ‘voice first,’ not ‘voice also,'" explained Bijit Halder, project leader in Baidu Research’s Silicon Valley AI Lab, during the announcement regarding the launch. 

"Unlike conventional smartphone keyboard designs, where voice is targeted for occasional use and delegated to a small mic icon, TalkType is designed to make voice the primary mode,” Halder continued. 

TypeTalk also personalizes transcription results, tailoring word and phrase suggestions to individual users. When the user taps the microphone icon, it starts the transcription, according to Digital Trends. During the process, it capitalizes words at the start of sentences, stops listening during silent moments, and supports voice commands for punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and colons. 

Baidu’s new keyboard app features a full QWERTY keyboard that can be useful when transcription is not possible. It has emojis, alphanumeric keys, symbols and support for Swype-like gestures which generate AI-powered word suggestions.

The company considers launching Talktype to the keyboard for iOS devices.

TagsBaidu, Android Keyboard App, Keyboard app, TalkType, voice transcription, TalkType App, Baidu TalkType, voice keyboard, Swype