keyboard - 5/12 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Nov

[Update: Now In The Market] Download: Get The Ice Cream Sandwich Keyboard On Your Phone (Minus Voice Dictation), No Root Necessary

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Update: This keyboard is now in the Android Market. Hit the widget below to grab it from there.

Ice Cream Sandwich Keyboard

QR code for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=inputmethod.latin.ported

For those who are anxious to get their hands on Ice Cream Sandwich, another bit of Android's newest iteration has slipped out. This time, we've got the ICS keyboard. While it doesn't include the live voice-to-text functionality we were impressed by at Google's announcement (though there are options related to the microphone button in the keyboard's settings), it does bring some nice improvements to the table over Gingerbread's keyboard. It's important to note that this keyboard is only compatible with phones (it doesn't play nice with tablets), and since the package isn't signed by Google, it's not exactly official.

Nov

SwiftKey X Update Brings A Host Of Performance, Visual Improvements

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

Tonight, TouchType Ltd. released a much-anticipated update to SwiftKey X, the text prediction authority among replacement keyboards. The update brings a ton of improvements, from UI tweaks to performance and language changes, and even prediction enhancements. Perhaps more important than all of that, however, is the fact that SwiftKey X 2.2 has full Ice Cream Sandwich support, and an enhanced multi-touch framework, keeping the keyboard replacement ahead of the curve.

Specifically, the update brings the following changes:

Full language localization for major European languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portugese)
Intelligent typing support extended to 35 languages, including Arabic and Hebrew
Enhanced multi-touch framework for faster typing
Prediction and correction enhancements thanks to a more efficient Fluency engine
Graphic enhancements, including a better settings menu, alternative character selection and sharing features
Enhancements to the keyboard to change the height in both portrait and landscape modes
New Dvorak and Colemak layouts for those who wish to depart from QWERTY
Reduced memory use
Full Support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

If you aren't already a fan of SwiftKey X, these enhancement should go a long way in convincing you.

Nov

SwiftKey X Alpha Gets Multitouch, VIP Members Currently Giving It A Test Drive

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

SwiftKey X is arguably one of the best keyboard alternatives for Android, and it's only getting better. The newest alphas (VIP login required) for both phones and tablets include a much-needed feature for any keyboard: multitouch. This will allow for even faster typing, fixing one of SwiftKey's biggest issues - missed and repeated letters.

Over the next few days, we would greatly appreciate your participation in Alpha testing our latest update to multi-touch functionality. This version is an Alpha, so we would advise against using it as your primary SwiftKey keyboard. However, your feedback will assist us in refining the SwiftKey experience for the betterment of all of our users.

Oct

[Updated x2] Security Advisory: A.I.Type Keyboard Sends All Your Keystrokes To Their Servers In Plain-Text - Sometimes You Can't Trust The Cloud

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Last Updated: November 8th, 2011

One of the features that really differentiates Android from other mobile operating systems is the ability to install a custom keyboard that works for you. I constantly keep jumping between a variety of keyboards as new updates come out (right now I've settled on SwiftKey due to its unparalleled prediction technology), but when some of our readers pointed out A.I.type Keyboard's "psychic" word completion, I had to check it out.

However, what I found in A.I. Keyboard's Market description prevented me from even installing it - all smart predictions happen in the cloud, which means everything you type (or almost everything) gets sent over the data connection to their servers.

Oct

[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Giant Giveaway #11: Two More 16GB White ASUS Eee Pad Sliders Are Up For Grabs - Win One For Doing Next To Nothing!

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in ASUS, Contests / Giveaways, Eee Pad Slider

Last Updated: November 23rd, 2011

After your (possibly over-) enthusiastic response (I kid, I kid; we appreciate your high spirits) to our last giveaway, we decided it would only be appropriate to allow two more readers the chance to win an ASUS Eee Pad Slider. That's right: NVIDIA, in its seemingly infinite awesomeness, has once again been generous enough to sponsor a giveaway of not one, but two 16GB white ASUS Eee Pad Sliders, both powered by a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor and fueled by a wide variety of games from the Tegra Zone.

Tegra Zone

The Prize

The Slider, for those with less-than-ideal memories, is the keyboard-tablet hybrid we reviewed just a few weeks ago.

Oct

[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Giant Giveaway #10: Win One Of Two 16GB White ASUS Eee Pad Sliders For Doing Next To Nothing

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in ASUS, Contests / Giveaways, Eee Pad Slider

Last Updated: October 27th, 2011

Can you believe we and NVIDIA have already conducted this many giveaways? It seems like just yesterday we were giving away the Motorola XOOM, and...

Never mind; let's cut to the chase: this time around NVIDIA has been generous enough to sponsor a giveaway of not one, but two white 16GB ASUS Eee Pad Sliders powered by the Tegra 2 processor and fueled by a wide range of available games from the Tegra Zone.

Tegra Zone

The Slider, for those with less-than-ideal memories, is the keyboard-tablet hybrid we reviewed just a few weeks ago. It's not quite perfect - it is, after all, subject to Honeycomb's shortcomings - but it's still an excellent tablet, especially compared to its Android-based competition.

Oct

[Review] ZAGGfolio For Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: A Poor Man's Transformer Dock... Sort Of

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Reviews

Last Updated: November 4th, 2011

I have a confession to make: I'm incredibly jealous of Transformer owners. Not because of the tablet itself, but the super-sick laptop dock. Don't get me wrong -- I love the tablet, too, but that dock just does it for me. It's functional, useful, and brings things to the Transformer that I can only wish my Galaxy Tab 10.1 had.

All bonuses aside, one of the core features of the Transformer's dock is, of course, the keyboard. For web surfing, checking email, and light social networking, a keyboard-less tablet is fine. But for those of us who use tablets for more than that, a keyboard is almost a requisite.

Oct

Swype For Android Beta Update v3.26 Released, Brings Automatic Updates And More Languages - And An Intelligent Prediction Engine Is Right Around The Corner

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

A new beta version of Swype for Android, version 3.26, has been released, with the chief improvements being automatic updates, 11 new languages, a refined key layout, and enhanced settings in help. Now that they've nearly doubled the number of supported languages, the Swype package has been broken into four: one each for the Americas, Western and Eastern Europe, South-East Asia, and one for all regions.

Undoubtedly the most substantial improvement to existing Swype users: automatic updates. Rather than having to manually uninstall and reinstall each update, users are automatically notified when an update is available, which can then be installed via the Swype settings menu.

Oct

Ice Cream Sandwich Feature Closer Look - New Keyboard, Inline Spell Check, And More Consistent Copy/Paste

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

One of the most useful features of Android, in my opinion, is spell check. When attempting to convey information quickly, it's easy to make mistakes, and it's nice to have a device that catches them for you.

With Ice Cream Sandwich, users can expect a revamped keyboard, inline spell check capabilities, and improved copy/paste functionality.

The new keyboard doesn't look too different from the Gingerbread keyboard, save for its new color scheme and speech-to-text button. The way it performs, however, has seen significant improvement in terms of spell check, and copy/paste functionality.

Spell check now allows users to click on a questionable word, displaying a list of suggestions, or the option to add the word to the device's dictionary.

Oct

[Review] ASUS Eee Pad Slider: Heap Another Honeycomb Tablet Onto The Pile, Albeit One With A Trick Keyboard

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in ASUS, Eee Pad Slider, Reviews, Tablet Reviews, Tablets

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

When we first saw ASUS' Eee Pad Slider at CES, we very nearly dismissed it at once. It was thick, tablets with physical keyboards showed no sign of gaining popularity, and Honeycomb had yet to come out of the woodwork. Besides, ASUS' own cheaper, slimmer Transformer had already caught our hearts. Our confidence was not raised by the long period of silence that followed - in fact, the only Slider-related posts we've written since January are an unofficial hands-on by a Romanian blog and the announcement of the slate's pricing.

Nevertheless, the Slider is, at least on paper, easily in the top tier of Honeycomb tablets - in addition to its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, it has one of those legendary IPS displays, coupled with a full-size USB 2.0 port and a comparatively low price tag of $475.