Behind the Scenes: How We Designed Timekettle LiveTalk

Why We Started Developing LiveTalk

Over the years, we've continued pushing the capabilities of translation earbuds.

In 2021, we introduced the W3, our flagship two-way simultaneous translation earbuds. Later, with the W4 Pro, we explored a more professional approach to translation through an open-ear design, a three-microphone array, and advanced noise reduction.

Each generation helped us tackle increasingly complex communication challenges.

But as our flagship products became more sophisticated, we kept returning to a different question:

Could we make advanced real-time translation accessible to more people without requiring a complicated setup?

We began looking more closely at the devices people already carried. Almost everyone has a smartphone. And modern smartphones already have microphones designed to capture speech and reduce background noise.

That gave us an idea. Instead of expecting a pair of earbuds to handle every part of the translation process, why not make better use of the phone people already own?

The smartphone could capture speech, our translation system could process it, and the earbuds could deliver the translated audio directly to the listener.

Of course, making that combination work reliably would require considerable engineering. Different smartphones have different microphone capabilities, and real-world environments are rarely quiet.

But the idea was worth exploring.

We weren't trying to build translation earbuds with the longest possible feature list. We wanted to make the entire experience simpler.

That became one of the guiding principles behind LiveTalk.

The User Insight That Changed Our Direction

Before we started designing LiveTalk, we spent a considerable amount of time reviewing usage data and talking with existing Timekettle users.

Our M3 translation earbuds had been on the market for four years. We initially assumed that one-on-one conversation would be the feature people used most frequently.

The data told us something different. 44.72% of M3 users primarily used Listening Translation.

These users weren't necessarily trying to have a conversation. Many simply wanted to understand what was happening around them, whether they were attending a meeting, listening to a lecture, or following a presentation in another language.

During user interviews, one word kept coming up: comfortable.

People appreciated being able to put on their earbuds, listen to translated speech, and follow along without constantly interacting with their phones.

We also discovered that 73.4% of M3 users used their earbuds on both weekdays and weekends.

Translation wasn't limited to occasional international trips. For many users, it was becoming useful throughout their regular routines. These findings made us reconsider what people really needed from translation earbuds.

Someone might know enough English to introduce themselves or answer a simple question. But understanding a fast-moving discussion, following unfamiliar terminology, or catching subtle details can be much harder. And when you're listening to someone else speak, you don't always have the opportunity to ask them to slow down or repeat themselves.

We realized that the ability to understand and keep up with a conversation deserved just as much attention as the ability to respond. That led to one of our most important product decisions:

Putting Live Listening Translation at the center of the LiveTalk experience.

Instead of treating listening as an additional feature, we designed LiveTalk around the people who spend much of their day trying to understand conversations happening in another language.

Designing Earbuds People Would Actually Want to Wear All Day

Once we decided to put listening first, another question came up: How could we make earbuds comfortable enough to wear all day?

From the beginning, we believed that before LiveTalk could be great translation earbuds, they had to be great everyday earbuds. Comfort, sound quality, and ease of use mattered just as much as translation itself.

An open-ear, ear-hook design felt like the right direction. By sitting outside the ear canal, LiveTalk reduces pressure while allowing users to stay aware of their surroundings. But getting the weight right was another challenge.

Our engineers spent considerable time refining the internal structure, finding the right balance between weight and battery capacity. Eventually, each earbud came down to just 6.9 grams, paired with soft, skin-friendly liquid silicone ear hooks for a comfortable, secure fit.

Sound quality was equally important. After hundreds of EQ adjustments and listening tests, we developed six preset sound profiles and customizable EQ settings, supported by a custom 11mm dual-magnet dynamic driver. Even smaller details, like responsive touch controls and Find My Earbuds, received careful attention.

None of these decisions was particularly groundbreaking on its own. But together, they brought us closer to what we had envisioned from the start: a pair of earbuds people would genuinely enjoy wearing every day, whether they needed translation or not.

The Design Decision We Refused to Compromise On

Not every part of LiveTalk's development went according to plan.

During one of our early wearability tests, a colleague experienced a skin reaction after trying on the ear-hook prototype. It was an unexpected setback, especially since we had already invested considerable time in the design.

But we knew we couldn't ignore it.

Instead of moving forward with the existing materials, we went back to testing. Our team evaluated different materials, conducted additional skin compatibility tests, and eventually decided to redesign the ear hooks entirely.

That meant discarding our original molds, increasing development costs, and pushing back our timeline.

It wasn't an easy decision, but it was one we felt strongly about. If we wanted people to wear LiveTalk comfortably throughout the day, we had to take even the smallest concerns seriously.

Making Translation Simpler, From First Setup to Everyday Use

Our goal with LiveTalk was simple: make translation easier to use, wherever and whenever people need it.

To achieve that, we simplified the setup with guest mode, in-app Bluetooth pairing, and automatic language recognition. But behind this simplicity was a technical challenge: making smartphone microphones capture speech reliably across different devices and noisy environments.

We also designed four translation modes around everyday needs: Live Listening, Face-to-Face, Voice Call, and Multi-Media Translation. From meetings and conversations to calls and videos, users can switch between situations without switching devices.

Powering it all is Babel OS 3.0, our AI translation system, which selects suitable translation models based on language pairs, context, and network conditions. LiveTalk supports 54 languages and 108 accents, with 25 offline language pairs for times when internet access is unavailable.

For us, the best translation technology isn't necessarily the most complicated. It's the kind that lets people focus on understanding, without having to think about how it works.

Conclusion

LiveTalk is the result of countless decisions, experiments, and lessons learned along the way. From early user insights to the smallest design details, every step has shaped the product we have today. And while LiveTalk marks a new chapter for Timekettle, our journey continues as we explore new ways to bring people closer through language.