Android and Me » swype

Look out, Swype, here comes TouchPal

Dustin Earley — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:34:58 +0000

Everyday thousands of phones are sent home with Swype as the default keyboard. As far as innovative replacement keyboards for Android go, none have been quite as popular as Swype. Others have tried, but so far no one can match the speed, accuracy and natural feeling Swype provides. In the battle for kingship, it looks like Swype is the sole owner of the crown. Fortunately for consumers, not everyone is going to sit back and let king enjoy his reign.

Announced in a series of tweets today, replacement keyboard developer TouchPal has made it clear they’re coming back. And this time they’re bringing more innovation than ever. Do the folks at TouchPal have what it takes to get their keyboard to the top? If the blind typing, predictive sliding and smart prediction work as well as their promotional video would have you believe, Swype should be worried.

Of course until that promotional video becomes something more than just a video, TouchPal doesn’t have much room to talk. The newest beta hasn’t even been released to the public yet, so real-world performance is still a total mystery. If you’d like to get in on the beta testing slated to go live soon, follow TouchPal for more information. Until then, be sure to check out the demo video below and let us know what you think in the comments.

HTC Wildfire S officially to T-Mobile on August 3rd

Nick Gray — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:31:41 +0000

Rumors about a T-Mobile branded HTC Wildfire S have been floating around for a bit. Fortunately, T-Mobile has decided to clear up the rumors. They’ve announced the HTC Wildfire S will be landing on T-Mobile USA later this summer. Specs for the T-Mobile HTC Wildfire S match up with the European version of the phone quite nicely. The Wildfire S spec sheet features a 3.2-inch display, 5 megapixel camera, Swype, HTC Sense and Android 2.3, all running on a 600 MHz processor with 512 MB of ROM, 512 MB of RAM and a 1230 mAh battery.

T-Mobile plans to launch the HTC Wildfire S on August 3 for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a qualifying two-year voice and data contract. The HTC Wildfire S will be available in white at your local T-Mobile store, but you’ll need to purchase the phone from T-Mobile’s website, Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club if you want to pick up the black model. We’ve sent a note to HTC’s PR folks to see if they can share the off-contract pricing. As soon as we hear something, we’ll let you know.

Gallery

Swype wants you to stroke and poke its 3.0 Beta update, now with tablet support

Alberto Vildosola — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:13:27 +0000

If you have over-sized fingers like me, you’re probably a big fan of Swype. For those of us who like the alternative keyboard, Swype is really a life saver. That’s why I’m happy to tell you that it is now getting even better.

The guys and gals behind the popular keyboard just pushed out version 3.0 of Swype Beta. Although the page seems to be down right now, you can get the app here once they get everything in order. This new version of Swype brings a handful of new features, like Predictive Tap and a horizontal word suggestion bar.

But most importantly, Swype now supports Honeycomb devices. Which you can even change the position of now. As you can see in the video below, you can place the Swype keyboard on the left, center or right of your tablet. While not the most mind-blowing feature ever, I bet some people out there will find it useful. This new version of Swype also adds support for a few more resolution sizes. Which now includes: HVGA, WVGA, FWVGA, QVGA, WQVGA, WSVGA and qHD.

What say you, is this update enough to make you a Swype believer? Or will you stay a stock keyboard kind of guy? Or maybe you use another alternative keyboard? Let us know in the comments. Meanwhile, you can watch these overdramatic and funky demo videos from Swype and get your stroke and poke on.

Updated Swype beta now open for a limited time to all Android users

Taylor Wimberly — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:09:13 +0000

Most new Android phones now come pre-installed with the alternative keyboard Swype, but there is a large portion of users that have never tried it. Swype is not available for sale in the Android Market, so the only way to get it is through their beta program that is offered every couple of months.

Swype just sent us an email to inform us that they have opened registrations for their latest version that they need help beta testing. These open registrations are normally offered for a limited time, so head over to beta.swype.com and sign up before it’s too late. All you need to do is provide your email and then Swype will send you a link to download their installer.

If this is your first time to try Swype, check out the detailed installation instructions and FAQ if you need any help. If you are upgrading from a previous version of Swype, please make sure uninstall both Swype and Swypeinstaller.

It appears that Swype’s servers are still getting hammered from all the new users, so if you experience any problems please wait and try again. The important thing is to make sure you register so you can gain access to the Swypeinstaller file.

Check out the new version and let us know what you think. Is Swype your favorite alternative keyboard or do you rock the stock layout still?

Swype is pleased to offer an (updated) Android Beta! Here are the details:

In English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, and introducing French and an early, *UNSTABLE* preview release of Chinese Pinyin
Now includes support for Double-Tap-to-Edit, Cursor Restore, and Voice-to-Text (requires Google Voice Search be included in your system firmware)
HVGA, WVGA, and WVGA854 Resolutions – don’t worry we’ll detect this automatically. Sorry, no QVGA
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)

Tab video: Text entry with Swype and the stock keyboard

Clark Wimberly — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:31:19 +0000

Continuing our mutli-video series with the Samsung Galaxy Tab, we’re back today with a look at Swype and the stock keyboard. Typing on the 7 inch screen was a breeze, but both text entry options had strengths and weaknesses.

Swype is a great keyboard but overall I think it comes down to personal preference. Even on a small device like the Nexus, I don’t use it. So the swype motion blown up even larger it continues to not make the most sense to me (especially in landscape when swyping out a word means 37 inches of finger-dragging travel). I’m sure if you were a big Swype fan you’d be all over this, I just wasn’t.

The great news is that Swype performs more than admirably in peck mode (for lack of a better term) and is actually the keyboard I’ve been using as the default. The UI is clean and the key layout is pretty solid.

The stock keyboard is comparable to the one you’ve seen in the Galaxy S line-up already, and it performs just fine. The auto-complete is top-notch but it lost a few points for not having a voice input key (something we figured would have shown up by now).

The Verdict

Despite the few hiccups, text entry on the Tab is a total joy. Both pre-installed keyboards do a good job of handling touch input, even at a fast pace. I’m not really sure how much of the success can be given to the specific keyboards over the huge and totally awesome screen though, I’d imagine almost any input method would shine with this much space.

Sprint launches Samsung Epic 4G promo site

Nick Gray — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:28:59 +0000

Samsung’s Epic 4G still does not have an official release date, but Sprint is hoping to appease some eager customers with a teaser site for the new handset. The new site allows you to sign up for email updates on the Epic 4G while also giving you a glimpse of what the handset will have to offer.

Currently, the site shows off the Epic’s 720p video recording capabilities and the Swype on screen keyboard. You’ll want to check back into the site if you want a glimpse of “unrivaled movie watching” and “ultimate game playing.” The Epic 4G will be the third Galaxy S phone to hit the U.S. market this summer and will be the second 4G handset on Sprint’s network. We’re a little curious as to how many EVO owners would be willing to give up Froyo for a few months in order to see how that Hummingbird processor really flies.

Swype beta now open for all Android users to register

Anthony Domanico — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:57:37 +0000

Update: The new Swype beta is now open to anyone for the next couple of days. Sign up now if you want to try it out.

Last week, Swype updated their beta application with some pretty major bug fixes and database enhancements, leading us to believe that a final version of their application was imminent. Turns out this prediction was spot on, as the folks over at TechCrunch have learned that Swype will be releasing a final beta version of their slide-to-type application via their beta website tomorrow for any Android user who wants it.

Though this is not technically a final release, the fact that Swype is ready to release an open beta to all who want to try it out signifies that Swype is nearly ready for mass consumption on the Android market. A final release is certain to be right around the corner.

This is certainly good news for Android, as the Swype keyboard allows users to type faster than ever before, as proven by broken Guinness world records last year. As someone who has used Swype pretty religiously in the past, I have been impressed with how simple, quick, and accurate Swype is, and would not go back to using any other keyboard.

If you’ve never tried Swype before, I highly encourage you to head over to Swype’s beta website tomorrow and give this keyboard replacement a try. I’m confident that you won’t be disappointed.

Swype updates Android beta, final release coming soon?

Anthony Domanico — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:52:53 +0000

Swype is a fairly popular keyboard input application that is changing the way we type on our touchscreen devices. Instead of tapping keys similar to a QWERTY keyboard, users can swipe their fingers over the keys and the application will predict which word you were trying to type. In my initial tests of this application, I found it to be fairly accurate, though it was missing some words that made me scratch my head.

We have just received word that Swype is one step closer to being officially released onto the Android platform. In an official email to all beta testers, Swype has announced an update to both their Swype installer program, as well as an update to the application itself.

After just a few minutes of use I don’t notice many differences in the new version vs. the old version. Though glancing at the changelog indicates that this is a major update bringing some strong additional functionality and enhancements to the user dictionary.

Hopefully this major update is indicative of a June release of the final version of Swype. For those looking to try out Swype, they are unfortunately not accepting new beta testers, though you are encouraged to sign up at the Swype website and you may be accepted soon as they expand beta tests.

Gallery

This update brings several updates and bugfixes:

Added better context sensitivity for the “magic button” (go/search/enter/smiley)
Added automatic apostrophe insertion for contractions (e.g. won’t, don’t, wasn’t, etc)
Added the Italian language dictionary
Improved sensing of field type to prevent the display and addition of passwords to the UDB (user dictionary)
Improved suppression of auto-spacing in fields such as URLs and email addresses
Updated the built-in dictionary to include several common words that were previously missing
Rewrote some settings descriptions to be more clear on their functionality
Fixed licensing issue causing “Limited Functionality” errors when rebooting devices running Android 2.0 and later
Fixed licensing issue causing some users to receive an “Incorrect ID” error when installing Swype
Fixed a bug where manually typing some words with word-prediction enabled would cause Swype to crash
Fixed a bug which caused some words added to the UDB to erroneously override other words when word-prediction is enabled
Many other minor bug fixes!

Swype challenge: Can you beat the Guinness World Record?

Taylor Wimberly — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 01:39:04 +0000

The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.

Thank you can type Swype the above phrase in under 35.54 seconds? An ex-Swype employee recently set the Guinness World Record for fastest text message on a touchscreen mobile phone, but how long with that time stand?

Swype thinks they have the fastest input method and they are now challenging their users to beat the new record. The current world record was set using the Windows-powered Samsung Omnia II, so it would be cool for an Android phone to take the top spot. I know a lot of our readers downloaded the Swype Beta, so give it a try if you are bored and desire to be in the record books.

Note: Due to the overwhelming demand, Swype has temporarily closed the beta test for their Android app. Visit the Swype Beta for Android site to register and they will notify you when the beta is re-opened.

Update: Thanks to Twitter I found out Andrew Steffy has already beat the record with a time of 34.9 seconds. Who is going to try and top that?

From Swype: If you think you have beaten the record, please contact Guinness World Records. All officially recognized Guinness World Records attempts start by completing and submitting an application accessible through the official site. Please visit Guinness World Records Web site in order to receive record guidelines and other important record-specific information.

Swype sets Guinness World Record for fastest text message

Taylor Wimberly — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:15:35 +0000

Have you tried the Swype beta yet? Franklin Page (a recent employee of Swype) just set the Guinness World Record for fastest text message on a touchscreen mobile phone using Swype.

“The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human”Official phrase of the Guinness World Records

Mr. Page entered the above phrase in just 35.54 seconds which beat the old record by a full 5 seconds. He was actually using the Windows-powered Samsung Omnia II, but Swype is coming preloaded on most new Android phones and should be available in the Android Market soon.

If you have yet to try the beta for Android, Swype has posted detailed instructions for getting it installed.

How fast can you enter official phrase of the Guinness World Records?