Swype: A New Way of Onscreen Text Input

Swype, an innovative technology that provides a faster and more intuitive way to input text on touchscreens, has recently made its debut on the Samsung Omnia II for Verizon Wireless.

The patented software allows users to enter words on an onscreen QWERTY keyboard by dragging their finger or a stylus to trace the letters, instead of tapping them out one by one. Working with continuous motion across the virtual keys, Swype claims to speed up typing on a mobile device and allows users to type over 30 words per minute. You can watch video clips here to learn how to use Swype.

Apart from fast speed, another attractive feature of Swype is its accuracy. Even if the path is imprecise, the software will automatically correct, suggest and insert words with its integrated spell checker with over 80% accuracy. Swype has a large database of more than 65,000 frequently used words, and users can regularly add new words, phrases, phone numbers and more data to the collection.

"Swype will change how the world inputs text on screens," according to its inventors, Randy marsden, creator of the onscreen QWERTY keyboard of Windows Mobile, and Cliff Kushler, co-inventor of the T9 predictive text technology. The company plans to introduce the technology to the mass market. The goal is to make it as ubiquitous as T9, which is now being used on more than 2.4 million handsets across the world.

The Samsung Omnia II, a Windows Mobile phone, is the first one to feature the cutting-edge application. It will be built into more handsets in early 2010, including a new Android device and some Symbian phones. The company said they are also interested in working with future iPhone devices.

Other than expanding the number of devices Swype is on, the company is focused on developing more languages as well. The technology is already available in more than 20 languages.

With touchscreen display becoming an increasingly important feature of mobile devices, it is imaginable that Swype will be a great value to the heavy texters, or even redefine the way people communicate via text input.

Tags: Stylus, Samsung Accessories, Samsung Omnia II (SCH-i920), Verizon Wireless Accessories, iPhone Accessories, Apple iPhone 3G S Accessories