The original SwiftKey is like a new friend, you need to spend time with it and develop that relationship for things to work good. It learns your typing habits as you use it, as well as from the messages on your phone. The guys from TouchType have made this bond much quicker and personal, now that SwiftKey X actually has the ability to grab information from more sources up-front.

The application can be granted permission to access your Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter account. We know that security and privacy are very big topics within the smartphone world right now, but sometimes one must get out of that comfort zone to take advantage of many of these services. If you choose to give SwiftKey X access to these accounts, it will go ahead and analyze your messages. This will ensure that that “bond” between you and your keyboard strengthens better and faster, meaning quicker and deeper understanding of your personal typing habits.

If that was not enough typing goodness for you, TouchType has also added “Personal input modeling” and “Typing Styles.” Not only is SwiftKey X learning from your language habits, but also from your physical typing tendencies:

Improvements to Fluency include ‘Personal Input Modeling’, which dynamically alters the touch-sensitive regions of keys based on how accurate your typing is. There are also two new ‘typing styles’ – Precise and Rapid – which ensure predictions and corrections work in harmony with the way you type.SwiftKey X Press Release

As you can see in the screenshots below, SwiftKey’s learning system and other functional improvements are not the only new additions. The keyboard can now be customized to look different, which is something I have actually been wanting to do since the beginning (As you probably noticed in the first paragraph).

This product is in beta right now, so it may very well not be perfect. SwiftKey is a great product though, so we can assume that successor will follow its footsteps. I personally highly recommend that you try it out. If Beta testing isn’t your thing, though, you can check out SwiftKey for $1.99 from the Android Market (there is also a free version available). Take a look at the video, images, and press release after the break, and go check out how well SwiftKey X reads your mind! As always, we like to know your opinions, so what do you think of the all new SwiftKey X? Do you prefer the original SwiftKey? What keyboard do you currently use?

Gallery

SwiftKey X Keyboard Free TouchType Ltd PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

Android’s text prediction feature helps a lot while typing on your on-screen keyboard, but have you ever felt like you need it to do more? A.I.Type keyboard basically predicts not only the word you are typing, but also the word you are about to type, before even typing a single letter. The developer actually claims that this nifty software will save you about 75% of your keystrokes, and whether that number is accurate or not, it definitely does save you a good amount of effort.

A.I.Type’s predictions are actually done “in the cloud,” which means that the application will not be too heavy on your storage space, but if you happen to find yourself without an internet connection, such feature will simply not work.

If you have used Swiftkey before, A.I.Type is definitely another choice to consider. Swiftkey is definitely a very good option; if you have used it, you would know that it pretty much reads your mind. A.I.Type keyboard is the same concept, but it uses the Gingerbread keyboard, as opposed to Swiftkey, which uses its own “iPhone-like” keyboard.

The produt is actually in beta, but it is good to try it out, and I did not run into any issues while trying it out, so it seems pretty stable. For a better view of what A.I.Type is able to do, the developer has put together a video, which is posted below if you are interested. Please do let us know what you think of this new keyboard. Do you guys like it? If not, which one do you prefer?

Top 10 U.S. smartphones from AdMob.

A quick look at the top smartphones from the latest AdMob report shows the most popular three Android phones are the Motorola Droid, G1 (HTC Dream), and the Motorola CLIQ. Each phone has its own appeal, but they all share similar slide-out keyboards. The majority of Android owners have no clue what firmware their device is running and make their buying decision solely on looks.

I find it most interesting that the Motorola CLIQ appears to have out sold the myTouch 3G. T-Mobile launched the myTouch 3G first, heavily promoted it, and upgraded it to Android 1.6. The CLIQ went on sale several months later and only included Android 1.5, but it looks like more customers are choosing it based entirely on the form factor.

T-Mobile recognizes keyboards are still hot and it makes sense they are gearing up to make the myTouch 3G Slide one of their flagship phones this summer. Outside of that, there are not many options for new Android phones with keyboards coming to the U.S. LG might produce a Snapdragon slider later this year, but nothing official has been announced for the U.S. at this time.

I personally switched to the Nexus One earlier this year and I have adjusted to the virtual keypad quite well, but I still wish a physical keyboard was an option. Out of all the Android devices I’ve used over the last few years, the G1 still has the best keyboard layout in my opinion (5-row, big buttons, nice feedback). If someone releases a high-powered phone with a keyboard this year, that is likely my next purchase.

Which form factor do you prefer? Physical or virtual keyboard? If you have used multiple Android phones with keyboards, which did you like the most so far?

I know this has been available on some phones like the new myTouch 3G with 3.5 mm headset jack, but this is the first time many users will get to experience this innovative input method.

If you check out the beta, please let us know what you think and what improvements Swype could make for Android.

Check out the video demo below and head over to Sywpe’s site for more tips and tricks.

Here are the details:

• Initially we will have a limited number of participants – we’ll expand it soon
• In English and Spanish – more languages to come
• Limited Features – some key features of Swype require OEM integration
• HVGA and WVGA Resolutions – don’t worry we’ll detect this automatically
• Limited End User Support – mostly via our forum
• If your phone came pre-installed with Swype DO NOT download this beta (it won’t work)

This is not the first time we have seen a company try to offer an alternative keyboard where you draw words. Shapewriter is another virtual keyboard that offers a similar input method and it was an epic failure based on my testing. The problem with drawing words on a small virtual keyboard is that your finger never leaves the screen till you finish a word. This makes it difficult to see where the letters are placed because your finger is always blocking the view.

Swype seems to think their input method is faster than traditional virtual keyboards. We will reserve final judgment till their app hits the market.

Some other keyboard replacements for Android (thanks Lemon for the list):

• EvenBetter Keyboard
• TouchPal
• TapTap Keyboard
• Slide Keyboard
• ShapeWriter
• Paragon
• Top Keyboard
• SlideType
• Paw Paw
• Better Keyboard

What is your favorite virtual keyboard for Android? I have tried most of them and I always come back to the stock Android one.