Microsoft Research has developed a new system for hand-held computers and communications devices called Tap and Talk, which combines speech recognition technology with a small stylus or pen. The stylus is used to call up information by tapping an on-screen field or icon - there is no handwriting recognition software. Instead, the user speaks into the device to enter data or commands.

The research group has developed the first prototype to use Tap and Talk technology. The MiPad (multimodal interactive pad) is a palm-sized device that is a combined cellular phone, pager and hand-held computer. It has a built-in microphone which is activated whenever a field is tapped. The speech recognition system, Whisper, has a 64,000 word dictionary and recognises natural or continuous speech.

The device also has a spoken-language understanding engine, which understands context. Microsoft has no firm date on when MiPad will reach the market.