Thursday, January 17, 2013

Swype's Language Innovations

Image representing Swype as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase
Fast typing is not just about keystrokes. It is also about language. It can be argued it is primarily about language. Voice input for text is quite a treat too. It is great for taking quick notes, to be corrected later, or not. A Gmail saved draft is easy to correct later on a laptop.

Smartphone Dictionaries Go Gangnam Style
may also eventually enable Swype to roll out customized dictionaries based on a user’s geographical region or occupation, and add support for smaller languages that are often ignored by technology companies. .... language varies tremendously from person to person and place to place, and it’s hard to keep up with constantly changing jargon and slang—not to mention doing so in many different languages. ..... Swype Living Language .... If Swype sees a critical mass of people adding a word or phrase—such as “MakerBot”—it will push that out to participating users ..... Swype is also trolling popular blogs and websites for new words that can also be added to its collection. This only goes so far, though, as terms like “Gangnam Style” can show up in users’ vernacular well before becoming popular in the media ...... noticed tens of thousands of appearances of the word “Lochte”—referring to Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte ..... very up-to-date dictionaries that include subjects trending in the world around us. .... new Living Language words will expire after six months unless they retain a certain amount of popularity .... A doctor might use one type of Swype dictionary, while a tech journalist would get another
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Swype Installed, Swiftkey Paid For

Image representing Swype as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase
I did manage to install Swype. But right before that I paid for the paid version of Swiftkey. I had been using the trial version with weeks to go. But it was only four bucks.

Typing is fast enough on the smartphone for me. But it can always do one better.

I don't seem to able to find Swiftkey Flow that supposedly accepts Swype like, well, swipes.

SwiftKey Counters Swype With A Smarter Version, Makes An In-Road Into Healthcare Market
the market seems to be turning into a face-off fight between Swype and Swiftkey. ..... Swiftkey has also released a custom version for the medical industry called SwiftKey Healthcare, allowing health care professionals take better and faster notes on tablets. This is their first entry into enterprise ..... Swiftkey works by understanding what you intend to type by the context of what you are writing. It both corrects words and suggests the next word. The app can be synced with your email, Tweets, and Facebook status updates to better learn your style and vocabulary. As a result the company estimates it’s saved its users over 65 billion keystrokes. ..... The ability to dictate, rather than type, words may help it in Asia where some languages with non-Roman alphabets have thousands of characters. Nuance bought Swype in October for $102.5m.
Swiftkey adds Swype-like gestures to its Android keyboard. Swell!
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