Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Software, Cool tools
Swype could make typing easier on the iPhone
It's pretty wild -- his drawing "Mississippi" set off my "awesometer." Unfortunately, while the iPhone is given just a slight mention (can you name another touchscreen device that's used as widely?), it'd probably need a little tweaking. He's using a stylus (which on the iPhone is a no), and it'd be tough to draw with accuracy on a keyboard as small as the iPhone, even on the bigger horizontal version. Still, I like it, and Apple could always consider something like this for the iTablet, whenever they decide to release that. It'd be an easy way to overlay another typing method onto an already-working nontactile keyboard.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
The1 said 4:16PM on 9-15-2008
...and people expect Steve Jobs to pay someone to put this technology on the IPhone to make it standard. I do not see this happening. I think this will sell as an add on from the App Store.
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Niklas said 5:24PM on 9-15-2008
Why not? Jobs did use the keyboard and mouse – no problems with the NIH (Not Invented Here) back then. Same goes with the current iPhone keyboard, algorithms just like that had been living in user interaction labs for years before reaching Apple.
The only real Apple "first" input device I can think of is the iPod wheel.
The1 said 5:42PM on 9-15-2008
Time will tell.
mentalsticks said 6:59AM on 9-16-2008
wow, you're really desperate to have the last word, don't you?
mike said 4:32PM on 9-15-2008
it looks harder than the iPhone. I can type great on iPhone becuase it already has auto correction and intuitiveness....
We don't type in a line...
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Stephen.4 said 4:16PM on 9-15-2008
Looks awesome. Windows 7 (Multi-touch windows, next OS release) tablet anyone?
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robogobo said 4:16PM on 9-15-2008
I've used WritingPad on the iPhone, and it's actually really accurate and easy to pick up. Much faster than the built-in. Unfortunately it can only be used inside that app. Apple should license this and implement it in the iPhone. It's more like real typing rather than hunt and peck.
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Fernando said 4:21PM on 9-15-2008
That's rumored to be coming to windows mobile, not the iphone/
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George said 4:41PM on 9-15-2008
Writing Pad - Free- already on the iPhone.
oh yeah.
When does this technology come to the desktop and empty out the keyboard and typing class 101?
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Martin said 4:50PM on 9-15-2008
of course this can work on the iPhone.
precision of the finger vs a stylus does not matter that much.
the current iPhone keyboard uses code to determine which key was actually hit, taking proximity into account.
combine that with this guy's code and u have a winner.
this is actually all very simple, i hope, for him, that the guy has a patent, (he probably does)
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punkassjim said 4:56PM on 9-15-2008
"It should be standardized. You shouldn't have to learn a different text-input method for every device you go to."
Strange words from a dude who's hawking ANOTHER novelty text-input method, which will likely fracture the market even more.
Dumb?
Funny how the iPhone uses a pretty goddamn standard text-input method. And I can't believe people still have issues with using it. I don't get it.
This swype guy looks to have rehearsed his routine quite thoroughly, but can you imagine how long it'd take to re-train your brain to do that?
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Niklas said 5:30PM on 9-15-2008
In fact, the iPhone/Touch keyboard and this new technology have a lot in common:
• They are both based on the QWERTY layout but can with dictionaries easily be extended for other layouts.
• They are both target-aim based.
• They are both corercting and suggesting words.
punkassjim said 5:34PM on 9-15-2008
And, in fact, the Swype input method (how the human actually interacts with the thing) is dramatically different from "typing."
I don't see these input methods as anything alike, unless you count "on paper" comparison.
Marcelo said 7:37PM on 9-15-2008
That's what I thought - he's pretty slick, but he probably had to rehearse. So just to test, I whipped out my iPhone and tried to mimic his movements. It's actually not hard at all. While I obviously couldn't see the results, it didn't feel unnatural to use that method at all. It felt smooth and super fast.
punkassjim said 7:55PM on 9-15-2008
Just went to download WritingPad, and found this:
"Please note: ShapeWriter WritingPad is temporarily unavailable in the App Store/iTunes."
Pretty strange. Anyway, I can't do the slide-my-finger-on-the-glass thing without getting annoyed. My fingers are always a little less than dry, so they get stuck on the glass. Plus, I guess I just don't think in straight lines when it comes to putting letters together. Just as T9 always felt like a chore to me, so does this.
I've seen a couple of the video demonstrations now, and still none of them compare to how quickly I can actually type out a few paragraphs on my iPhone. It's more like "swipe a bit, pause, pick the word it thinks you meant; swipe a bit, make sure it's right; swipe a bit, none of the suggestions are right, so I gotta hit this arrow..."
I remember being blown away by the end of the "how the keyboard works" video from Apple, and even MORE blown away when I could actually do that myself.
George said 5:05PM on 9-15-2008
They should have a demo in their website so us Wacom users can try it out…
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Quix said 5:43PM on 9-15-2008
BRING TO IPHONE NOW!!!
(Yes, I have WritingPad. I'd like to see this as an optional input technique across all iPhone apps.)
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alansky said 5:47PM on 9-15-2008
"...just run a stylus (or your finger) around a qwerty-board, hitting all the letters in your word on the way, and the program will guess the word you were drawing."
I should "hit all the letters" so that the program can *guess* the word I'm typing??? Sorry, but this sounds ridiculous!
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Niklas said 6:16PM on 9-15-2008
Looks ridiculous even! Look, he succeeds in writing Mississippi that fast! Sounds ridiculous! Just as ridiculous as T9! I mean, is T9 supposed to *guess* what I am writing? Sorry, that sounds ridiculous!
;-)
Bob said 8:02PM on 9-15-2008
WritingPad for the IPhone & IPTouch work this way. It works quite well though as someone pointed out previously this form of input only work within WritingPad app.
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