TextMaster, an online marketplace for translations and transcriptions, is launching its mobile app today, called Transcript.io. With this app, you can simply record any talk, dictation, conversation, or your neighbors, and it will send you back a translation in a reasonable amount of time.
TextMaster previously announced its web based marketplace for translation and transcription services. They also announced last month a round of funding of €1.64 Million, as reported on TechCrunch. Their chief competitors are Genjo and Textbroker. The market, still dominated by old-fashioned certified translators, is ripe for disruption.
“Once downloaded from the Apple Store, all you have to do is click on the button to begin a recording and within a few minutes, your transcribed document is ready to download.” – explains Benoît Laurent, CEO of TextMaster. Moreover, because the audio is transcribed by professional authors in the TextMaster community, the transcription quality is guaranteed. It’s the first app of its kind in the iOS app store.

What do we think?

Pricing, at €95 / hour, is very high, putting it on par with traditional translation services, and I expect it to come down over time. Other than that, it’s the first of its kind, and I think it has a great future – the demand for it is obvious. When asked, TextMaster said they had no plans for an Android version, and I think that’s a weakness. TextMaster is looking for more ways to use its API, and this is certainly a worthwhile one.