What the iPhone keypad should have been

John Chan | Oct 26, 2007

Touchscreen handheld devices without keyboards, whether numeric or QWERTY, always seem to be perceived as less convenient than those with. In Windows Mobile devices, you either use a stylus to peck at a tiny onscreen keyboard or some form of handwriting recognition to enter text. Some manufacturers add in special versions using T9 (a predictive text input method found in most mobile phones) to make their handhelds easier to use. Let's face it, none of these input methods come close to the usefulness of a real keyboard, until now. I've just found out about TouchPal, an alternative soft keyboard from Cootek that blows everything else out of the water.

At first glance, you may think that this is just an iPhone keyboard clone. The color and fonts do look a little like Apple's implementation, and the fact that keys expand when you touch one make it look like a copycat--but that's where the similarities end.

For one, each onscreen key is larger, so you are less likely to put your finger on the wrong one. Like the Sony Ericsson P1i and BlackBerry Pearl's keyboards, each button corresponds to two letters. The TouchPal's predictive text engine will figure out what word you are trying to type and give suggestions. You then touch the word you want for your message or note.

If you choose not to use the predictive text, there is no need to turn it off. Putting your finger on a button, you just slide left or right to choose one of the two letters that button corresponds to. When you are done typing the word, the software will even prompt you to add any unfamiliar words you enter into its dictionary. Sliding down upon touching a button gives you punctuation, while sliding upward gives the capital form of letters.

The application is free to download till December 8, and is available for devices with either QVGA or VGA screens. The developer asks only that you spread the word around and also to let him know of any bugs or problems you may face using it.

I usually try not to sound like a raving fanboy, but every single one of you with a touchscreen Windows Mobile device without a keyboard needs to go download this. Remember, it's free. There's no loss to you even if you don't like it. But chances are, this will become your text input method of choice once you've given it a go.

Filed under: Handhelds
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