[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] ranj9119:
Move over T9, here comes Swype

Swype works with an on-screen QWERTY keyboard like you have on the tablet version of Windows and on the iPhone. But instead of tapping letters out, you press your finger or stylus on the first letter, then, without lifting it, move it to the remaining letters in the word. When the word is done, then you lift.

It works. Even on tiny small screens, it is intuitive and fast, and you don't even have to run the tutorial. Basically, it's an amazing new input method.

A built-in 65,000-word dictionary corrects obvious and even creative spelling errors. A word menu pops up if the correction is somewhat ambiguous; in our tests, the top choice was usually correct, and it can be selected with a simple swipe upward.

Little tricks make it possible to capitalize words (jerk the stylus up and down) or select double letters (wiggle the pen over a letter).

You can type 55 words per minute on his product. Discount the developer's advantage: Real human beings should be able to motor along at about half that, we estimate. *From Cnet

Main features are...

Simply Trace a Path

The word “quick” was generated from tracing the path shown above in a fraction of a second, by roughly aiming to pass through the letters of the word. A key advantage to Swype is that there is no need to be very accurate, enabling very rapid text entry.

Fast!

You can go fast and be sloppy. There’s no need to try to accurately hit each key. Just make a reasonable effort to trace through the word and Swype will do the rest.

Easy to Learn

The keyboard layout is QWERTY, so there is virtually no learning curve if you’ve already learned to type on a regular keyboard.

Natural Feeling

The smooth motion of sliding from letter to letter feels very natural, not to mention fast.

Finger-Tip Operation

Swype can be used equally well with either a stylus or your fingertip. You don’t have to be precise; so even if you have a large finger that partially obscures the keys, Swype still works!

Auto-Spacing

You can go even faster since Swype automatically enters spaces for you. (Spaces are prepended in front of each word entered by Swype).

Auto Spelling Correction

Not only can you go fast and be sloppy, in most typical cases, Swype will even correct misspelled words. For example, trace out “freind”, and Swype will automatically generate “friend”.

Capitalization Shortcut

Save time by capitalizing any letter in a word with a simple gesture: just slide from the letter to off the top of the keyboard and then continue entering the rest of the word.

65,000-word Learning Dictionary

Chances are the word you are typing is already in the Swype dictionary. But if it isn’t, just tap it out once followed by a space, and Swype will automatically learn it for next time.

Statistical Tracking

Keep track of your speed using Swype’s built-in statistical tracking.

Accented Characters

Words with accented characters (“diacritics”) require no special action - just Swype the word and the correct spelling will be entered. New words with accented characters can by typed by tapping and holding on the letter to see all possible variations.

Over 50 Symbols

Most common symbols are on the main keyboard layer and can be quickly entered by tapping on the key and sliding off the top of the keyboard. Many other symbols are readily available on Swype’s second keyboard layer.

Automatic Help

Swype detects when you may be having trouble or might be able to benefit from a particular feature, and prompts you with helpful tips and instructions.

Interactive Tutorial

Get up-to-speed quickly with the fun and fast Swype interactive tutorial.

Advanced Features

When the Swype software is first started, it runs a short piece of test code to estimate the overall speed of both processing and file access in its current environment. This estimate is used to establish a default value for a “Swype Operation” parameter that can be adjusted by means of a slider control displayed in the user options.

Input Slider

The slider is labeled at the far left with “Faster Response” and at the far right with “Sloppier Input.” This slider setting controls a broad range of internal parameters that determine the breadth of the initial database search to identify the most likely matching word for each entered input path. It also controls a large number of other thresholds, such as how close the path needs to come near a key in order for that key to be potentially considered as a “match” to the path at that point. The slider is initialized to the determined default value, which results in an average response time of less than 250 milliseconds. This means that, on average, Swype will generate the intended word for an input path within ¼ second of when the stylus or finger is lifted from the screen at the end of the path

Speed and Accuracy

Swype is faster than existing text entry methods because it has built-in intelligence that does not require users to hit each letter accurately. Also, tracing a smooth, continuous path is much faster than “target-tap-lift-target-tap...”. Even novice users can quickly achieve sustained data entry speeds of over 40 words per minute.

Swype's official website

Swype on FreewarePocketPC.net

I ported Swype to all popular resolutions. It was dumped from Verizon Omnia II by GinKage at Modaco and first CAB file was released by sorg. I played with graphics and settings to make it compatible with other screens. From Swype.dll looks like that product version is 2.0

Verizon ROM extract thread in Modaco:

http://www.modaco.com/content/i8000-omnia-ii-gsm-rom-discussion/297290/verizon-rom-extract/

Right now there are two different dictionaries in app. English and Spanish. There are also activities in creating new dictionaries for Swype (Check 3rd post)

Check second post for more information and download links.

Developers and experts call, Please help us reach our goals. Any suggestion and/or comment is appreciated and welcome.

Credits to:

GinKage @ Modaco for dumping the ROM from Verizon Omnia II

sorg @ Modaco for being the first one to release a CAB

The guy @ Facebook who created this! :p:D

* I am not the developer of this application. All I did was making it compatible with other resolutions.