Blindingly Fast Touchscreen Text Entry System Gets a Push By Creator of T9 [Cellphones]

Everyone who has owned a cellphone over the last 10 years should at some point pour one out in thanks to Cliff Kushler, one of the inventors of the T9 text entry system that knows you mean "DONKEY" when you type 366539 in an SMS. Now Cliff is smartly shifting his focus on touchscreens with Swype—a way to type blindingly fast on a touchscreen by tracing your finger or stylus over the letters you want without lifting up, connect-the-dots style. It looks frankly amazing in a demo—so amazing that we remembered we've seen it somewhere before. Thankfully, it could be heading to the iPhone and Android really, really soon.

This is the demo Kushler gave to CNET, where he claims he can get a blazing 50 words per minute with the system. And we believe him—it's quite a sight. And then we remembered WritingPad—a demo of an Android text editor that uses the exact same interface:

Turns out, as the folks at jkOnTheRun also point out, that the idea of this kind of input system has been around since 2004 (when touchscreens were still kind of from the future), when it was developed by IBM and called SHARK. Now, SHARK is called ShapeWriter, who are the developers of the WritingPad Android app and a similar app for the iPhone. How about that? Swype is currently near prime time for Windows Mobile, with an SDK to bring it to other platforms in the works. ShapeWriter's Android version of WritingPad is forthcoming, and their iPhone version, which was released briefly before being pulled from the App Store for reasons unknown, should be back soon. No matter who brings it, I'm liking this. [CNET via Gadget Lab, jkOnTheRun, ShapeWriter]

[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
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Microsoft kicks out Wireless Laser Desktop 6000, Media Desktop 1000

Well, it looks like Microsoft had it's own "one more thing" for today, with the hereto unseen Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 and Wireless Media Desktop 1000 also making their debut in addition to all the other products that somehow managed to leak out beforehand. The 6000 series set (pictured above) includes, as you might have guessed the Wireless Keyboard 6000 and Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 (both also available separately), the former of which boasts all the favorite keys and Media Center controls you'd expect, while the latter packs a snap-in wireless transceiver, four-way scrolling, and five customizable buttons. The Wireless Media Desktop 1000, on the other hand, opts for a considerably less curvy design (check it out after the break), and does away with some of the 6000's more nifty features like an Aero-style translucent border and a battery status indicator. Look for both to start shipping later this month, with the 6000 series set running $100 and the Media Desktop 1000 setting you back just $50.

[ Via: Engadget ]
[ Tag: microsoft,wireless keyboard 6000,wireless laser desktop 6000,wireless laser mouse 6000,wireless media desktop 1000,WirelessKeyboard6000,WirelessLaserDesktop6000,WirelessLaserMouse6000,WirelessMediaDesktop1000 ]

New Dell Keyboard and Mouse Are Destined for Millions of Cubicles Across the Globe [Keyboards And Mice]

When we're talking office PC accessories today, there's boring, and then there's Dell boring. Regular boring gets you a quick trip to irrelevancy. Dell boring, on the other hand, gets your product onto the desktops of a million cubicle drones the world over. And that's probably where we'll see these pre-release products from Dell. The safe, non-threatening design reminded TechWareLabs of Logitech, which makes sense given the G3/G5 design cues, but we at Gizmodo practically fell asleep. The LED indicator is pretty, but unless you're a typist into some serious keystroke entry porn, we imagine you can easily hold off on buying these and just use them when they show up at work in a few months.

[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
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Logitech's Illuminated Keyboard: its thinnest keyboard ever

Logitech just announced a trio of keyboards this morning starting with its thinnest keyboard ever, the 9.3-mm thin Illuminated Keyboard ($80 / October) pictured above. It features an adjustable backlight, soft-touch palm rest and dedicated multi-media keys for hot, one-handed night typing alone in the dark. Also announced is the portable, 2.4GHz wireless DiNovo Keyboard for Notebooks ($100 / October) with an unbelievable 3-year battery life followup by the Cordless Desktop S520 ($60 / September) keyboard and optical mouse combination. The latter features more of that same impressive power management capable of eking out 8 months of usage for the mouse and 15-months for the keyboard. Pictures of the other two just as soon as Logitech delivers 'em.
[ Via: Engadget ]
[ Tag: cordless desktop,CordlessDesktop,dinovo,illuminated keyboard,IlluminatedKeyboard,keyboard,logitech,mouse ]