Cell phones and other handheld devices have progressed thus far to a less powerful PC keyboard. Swype promises to drastically improve the way we input text on the go. Now I have not used a device with it, but from what I have seen it is powerful to say the least. Swype is the Lamborghini of handheld input methods.
Their official benchmarks put its capabilities at 45 words per minute. They claim that PC keyboards get less than 60, so this almost puts it up to par with them. And mind you, the Swype method is one handed! I bet you are wondering how it works, well I will tell you after the break.
Instead of tapping each character on the keyboard, your finger never leaves the screen. You just guide your fingertip from the first letter straight to the next letter and then to the next as quickly as you’d like. There are a couple of other moves for doing the same letter twice and inserting symbols, but I am sure that they will be second nature in no time.
Currently the only phone that supports Swype is the Verizon Omnia II. Certainly in the coming months and years developers will switch to this system or one similar to it, since it is so clearly superior.
Here is a video of Swype vs iPhone’s Keyboard:
Also a beta version of Swype on Verizon’s Droid Eris:
In the first video, the person on the right is typing slowly. That person sucks at texting. Program looks cool though. Is it available for public use?
Ya he is typing kinda slow but he is typing very accurately. And it only appears to be available officially on the Samsung Omnia II.