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Friday, August 13, 2010

Swype - the next level of input on mobile devices

Problem: typing on touchscreens is a pain

But there is a solution - Swype.

I was fortunate enough to get into the beta program for Swype. At first I thought "oh great, another company claiming to make entering text on touchscreens a breeze." So I installed the app on my Milestone with fairly low expectations; and I was completely surprised by what I found...


It's Almost Like Magic

I watched the videos, then started to "play around' with it. Whilst there are tips and techniques that come with use, Swype makes you far more productive from day1. Let's say you wanted to enter the word "won't". With normal touchscreen keyboards it requires tapping on w, o and n, then having to switch to the symbol keys for the apostrophe, then back to the letter keys for the final t. With Swype, you simply start on w and trace over o, n and t. It knows most contractions, so it simply puts the apostrophe in for you. You teach it new words by tapping on the keys to form the word, then a space - that's it.

I'm not sure whether Swype will be releasing this as a paid-for app or whether they are going after the telcos to get it baked into their releases. Have a look at some of the videos on their web site, it really makes entering information on a touchscreen an absolute pleasure.