![Screen shot 2009-11-23 at [ November 23 ] 10.44.36 AM](http://www.mobilecrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Screen-shot-2009-11-23-at-November-23-10.44.36-AM-156x300.png "Screen shot 2009-11-23 at [ November 23 ] 10.44.36 AM")
A little over a year ago, Swype announced at TechCrunch50 2008 that they were going to “change how the world inputs text on screens”. By allowing the user to type words by tracing a path between its letters rather than tapping them out one-by-one, Swype claims to speed up typing on a mobile handset while doing away with accuracy annoyances. Swype is the brainchild of Randy Marsden, developer of the Windows Mobile onscreen keyboard, and Cliff Kushler, co-inventor of the T9 input method.
Early next month, Swype will make the jump from the demo stage to a real world product as it debuts on the Verizon Samsung Omnia II.
I got the chance to fiddle with Swype on a prototype Omnia II a few months back (albeit only for a few minutes) and was pleasantly surprised with how well it worked. I threw a bunch of random words at it of varying lengths, and I couldn’t get it to falter. If there was more than one possible option, Swype would present it in a drop-down list. It was quick, it was easy, and I enjoyed the hell out of the 10 minutes I had with it. Once you get the hang of it, it’s sort of magical; to onlookers, it’s like you’re scribbling madness only to end up with a perfectly coherent sentence. I was almost immediately typing at around the same rate as I do on my iPhone after 2 years of practice. Considering that this is all happening on a resistive touchscreen (with my finger, rather than a stylus) on WinMo 6.5, a platform I’ve berated in the past for its keyboard shortcomings, I’d say that’s quite a feat.
While the Omnia II has been available in other countries for some time now, Verizon’s is the first to sport Swype support. Look for Swype on the Verizon Omnia II when it hits the shelves on December 2nd at $199 with a 2 year contract.
No Doubt Samsung Omnia is the best phone I have ever used…..
Thanks for your post.
it was alright until he started actually using it on the phone. so slow and stupid.
Wow, this is pretty good. Android should adopt is ASAP to gain the upper hand in the virtual keyboard battle against Apple.
Swype is awesome! I have used it on a laptop and a phone. Immediately productive with no training. Swype will change the way we enter text on lots of devices.
Swype will probably be the most successful company from TC50 2008. More successful than Mint or Yammer from a financial point of view.
How did you use it on laptop?
Swype is not currently out on tablets but has been previewed on them and is certainly capable of working on tablets!
The problem is that user need to stare at the keyboard during typing to create a single character input flow per each word, that could be uncomfortable. And user need to wait for final word to appear on the screen after input flow is finished, as we know from T9. That cause some level of frustration to repeated input full word if engine does not recognize the input – maybe getting better with the engine learning my personal vocabulary, but clearly a downside to standard QWERTY typing where you can correct as you go along.
I would say this technology will not dominate the future text input of the world, but it will be of great value to some people who spend the time to get perfection. Therefore better to distribute as premium app for iPhone and Android.
i wanna try it…it feels soo damn slick!!
Sara
http://www.isopurewater.com/
I really like this verizon samsung omnia II. I like the color and the keypad style of this phone :) thank your for the post
Nice gimmick, but I can type as fast or faster on an iPhone touch screen without “Swype” – in fact it actually looks like a step backwards (nice stylus).
I can type faster and more reliably with Blackberry’s SureType including on the touchscreen Storm.
G
I’ve been using a swipe-type keyboard on my iphone for more than a year now.
A small, simple, FREE app.
ShapeWriter, it’s been about since, when?
Swype is actually different than ShapeWriter and is based on a built in “intelligence” that makes it much more accurate
I tested this out a couple of months ago and it was like magic.
Justuffxpress.com offer variety of brand name unlocked cell phones from HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry to Sidekick.
http://www.justuffxpress.com/shop/index.php?cPath=242
This looks like an awesome idea. Given the alternative is a thumbpad anyway (excluding normal touchscreens), I bet you could get quick as hell with this. I wonder how much CPU it eats computing the possible letter combos.
Interesting, as far as I know beside Swype and Shapewriter there is a third actor with a similar product called SlideIT
http://mobiletextinput.com/
ooh great Shapewriter .. its not possible to write emails or text messages with it ..
its just possible to write notes in the Shapewriter app ..
for me useless