Hasta La Gadget!

We know it’s hard to believe, but there are still people out there who own a smartphone with a touchscreen that can’t get a handle of its on-screen keyboard. That’s why applications like Swype are so important as it allows those who have trouble typing on touchscreen devices actually feel like they can hold a real conversation without the other person thinking they had a stroke due to the amount of typos they’ve sent along in their message. Today, Swype just got a little better as the application now supports phablets. (more…)

Swype 1.6 For Android Brings Small Keyboards To Phablets original content from Ubergizmo.

Some people actually find it quite easy to type on a tablet’s virtual keyboard as opposed to one on a smartphone, obviously because the keys are larger on the tablet as it has relatively more screen real estate. However, there’s one major problem that tablet owners might have experienced. Users can’t rest their fingers or wrists on the screen when typing, because the touch is registered, which ends up pressing different keys unintentionally. Dryft, a software based keyboard developed by Swype’s co-founder, hopes to eliminate this problem. It automatically positions keys beneath the user’s fingertips, thus allowing them to rest their fingers or wrists on the display without any accidental key presses.

Swype is a popular software keyboard for Android, if not the most popular. Randy Marsden is the co-founder of Swype, he has founded Dryft with Rob Chaplinsky, who is a managing partner at a San Francisco based venture capital firm. Dryft uses the tablet’s accelerometer sensor alongside its touch sensor to tell the difference between the user resting and typing. It also eliminates the need to keel keys since the dynamic keyboard automatically forms under the user’s fingers. Right now Dryft is in beta development. The company is courting manufacturers to which it can license the keyboard to and also developers, who will be given the ability to integrate Dryft in their apps through a SDK.

Dryft Hopes To Improve Typing Experience On Tablets original content from Ubergizmo.

You’ve seen them on planes, in coffee shops, maybe even at the office: tablets tethered to Bluetooth keyboards. Those users pecking away at hardware keys because using their slate’s software grid is nothing more than an exercise in futility. Dryft is a soft keyboard built by Swype co-founder Randy Mardsen that aims to change that. You see, most of us are touch-typers and rest our hands on the ‘home row’ of keys to tell our fingers where to reach all the other letters. But, the smooth surface of tablet displays prevents our phalanges from finding the proper orientation. Dryft eliminates that problem by automagically positioning the keys beneath your fingertips wherever they may be, and by allowing users to rest their hands on the screen.

Dryft can do this because it doesn’t rely solely on the touch sensors embedded in the screen, it also uses accelerometer data to determine if your fingertips are taking a break or are pecking away with purpose. Because of its reliance upon high fidelity signals from the accelerometer to work well, Dryft needs low-level access to that sensor’s data — and that means we won’t be seeing a Dryft download in any app store. Instead, Mardsen is taking the same route as he did with Swype, and is planning to license Dryft for use on Windows Phone, Android and iOS. Plus, developers will be able to integrate Dryft in individual apps thanks to a forthcoming SDK. Want to see Dryft in action? A video awaits after the break.

Filed under: Tablets, Software

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Source: Dryft

Most Android users are familiar with Swype keyboard, it is an intelligent virtual keyboard which makes typing faster as users don’t have to punch in letters like they would normally have to do. By sliding the thumb over letters that make up a certain word, user’s will be given the most accurate word suggestion based on the swiping of their thumb. Only recently the folks at Nuance released Swype 1.5 for Android and finally dropped the beta tab. This keyboard is much loved by Android users and there might be a possibility that the technology will come over to iOS. A Swype VP has confirmed that they have been holding talks with Apple on this, but no deal has been made yet.

Nuance, the owner of Swype, is already providing voice recognition technology that Apple uses in Siri. Both of these companies have a good working relationship, at least that’s what it looks like from the outside. It is said that Apple wants to make some big improvements to the iOS keyboard, it could either adop Swype altogether or license certain technologies that Swype uses. Tell us what you think, would you like having Swype or a similar keyboard technology on iOS?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Undercover Police Try To Prevent Sales Of Stolen iPhones By Launching Sting Operations, Alleged Leaked Document Shows iPhone 5S Could Launch In July,

We joke that Gmail holds the record for the most drawn-out test phase, but Swype comes close: the keyboard replacement has been considered a work in progress on various platforms since before Android devices hit the streets, and well after it started shipping with phones. The developers at Nuance are a little braver as of today, as they’re launching Swype 1.5 for Android without any kind of beta label attached — they really, truly consider it done. Mind you, there won’t be a huge difference versus recent betas. The 1.5 update adds a quick shortcut to Dragon Mobile Assistant for those who have it installed, expands Living Language to 20 dialects, adds two new themes and refines both Smart Touch and Smart Reselect.

It’s where you can get Swype 1.5 that may be the biggest change. For the first time, Swype is launching as a straightforward Google Play download that should support the same easy installs and upgrades as most Android releases. Unfortunately, that also means a price tag for the store edition. Nuance is charging 99 cents on Google Play for a “limited time” before a price increase, so we’ll have to shell out if we want to take the easier path. The beta program remains intact, however — and when Swype is at least temporarily undercutting SwiftKey on pricing, we’d consider spending some cash.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

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Source: Swype