Microsoft Releases Multi-tasking Keyboard App for Android
A new app from Microsoft Garage, a mobile software development unit within the Redmond, Wash., giant that focuses on experimental and small-scale apps, has released a new multitasking keyboard app for Android. Dubbed the Hub Keyboard, the app bundles a handful of tools that reduce the need to switch between apps to complete certain actions, helping users stay focused on the task at hand.
"With Hub Keyboard, you can copy and paste recent items, easily search and share documents, share contact information, and instantly translate parts of messages," Athima Chansanchai, a Microsoft spokesperson, wrote in a Feb. 23 blog post. "All of these tasks are integrated into the keyboard, and you can choose which ones you want to use in any app that requires a keyboard."
Hub Keyboard is the brainchild of Steve Won, a senior designer in the Microsoft Office group. "Personally, I don't like switching between apps to do different things on my smartphone," said Won in the blog post. "But all these different apps on a smartphone, they have to conform to rules of a keyboard and that got me thinking about the project as an interesting idea I wanted to explore more. We're giving users a wider gamut of tools."
