keyboard - 7/12 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

Amazon Appstore's Free App Of The Day Is The Mind-Reading SwiftKey X (Normally $3.99) [7/21/11]

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

Just a week after shedding its beta status, the ever-popular keyboard SwiftKey X is being featured in the Amazon Appstore as the free app of the day, down from its usual $3.99 price. If you've never used the beta, SwiftKey X has a few great features that distinguish it from many other alternative keyboards:

Improved word prediction using TouchType's Fluency Prediction Engine
Personalization Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and SMS
"Precise" and "Rapid" typing styles
Supports multiple languages simultaneously

This is actually the second time one of TouchType's apps have been featured on the Appstore, the first being the original SwiftKey a few months back, so there's hope for tablet owners that SwiftKey Tablet X may be featured soon as well.

Jul

[Update: Now With Market Links] SwiftKey X Graduates From Beta, All-New SwiftKey Tablet X Is Just Getting Started

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

We took you on a brief walkthrough of the SwiftKey X beta several weeks ago, and now this psychic keyboard has shed its beta skin and emerged as a fully-developed app. TouchType also pushed out a version of SwiftKey optimized for tablets, appropriately dubbed SwiftKey Tablet X. Both keyboards are using TouchType's Fluency 2.0 artificial intelligence engine to crawl deep into your brain and pull out the next word that's on the tip of your fingers - and it actually works reasonably well.

SwiftKey X and its tablet-optimized brother also "learn" by analyzing your typing style in Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as monitor your precision and adjust themselves accordingly to improve key prediction and accuracy.

Jun

Swype 3.0 Beta Released, Includes Improvements To Prediction And Touch Typing

Posted by Matt Demers in Applications, News

The Swype team released a new round of improvements to their keyboard replacement software this evening. With this update, users can expect improvements to the "traditional" way of typing, as the correction engine that is used in the Swype method has been applied there as well.

Other improvements include better support for Android tablets, a simplified registration process, a new method of choosing words (in a horizontal menu, as opposed to a popup) and other improvements. You can find a complete list of their changes below:

Swype v3 introduces two major new features: Tap Correction and Horizontal Word Choice List
Our Tap Correction engine utilizes many of the concepts that make swyping so accurate.

Jun

Transformer Owners: Use These Handy Widgets To See The Battery Level Of Your Dock

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer, Tips & Tutorials

The ASUS Transformer is a nifty piece of tablet kit, particularly because of its super-awesome keyboard dock that comes with its own extended battery. But Transformer owners have complained that they're essentially left in the dark about the status of the dock's battery - because by default the only battery status displayed is that of the tablet itself. This means that you'll just see a nice, full battery for hours on end until suddenly your little green bar starts to drop precipitously, indicating the dock has finally run out of juice.

Some would say this doesn't matter that much, but I can empathize - I'm kind of an info-nut myself, I like to know what's going on with my device, and if I had an external battery, I'd want to know the remaining power figures.

Jun

[Deal Alert] Buy A XOOM From Motorola, Get A Free Bluetooth Keyboard And Two Day Shipping

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Deals, News, XOOM

In an effort to get XOOMs flying off the shelves for Father's Day and graduation time, Motorola is offering a pretty sweet deal: between now and June 14th, if you buy a XOOM directly from them, you'll get a free Bluetooth keyboard (valued at $69.99). If that deal isn't already sweet enough, though, you'll also get free 2-day shipping on the order.

There is one catch, however: this deal is not applicable on the 3G XOOM if you bundle it with a plan - but if you plan on buying it outright (without signing a contract), then you're good to go.

Jun

Motorola XOOM Folio Case With Built-In Keyboard Now Available, Will Set You Back $85

Posted by David Ruddock in Motorola, News, Tips & Tutorials, XOOM

Do you wish your XOOM was an ASUS Transformer - but leather? Motorola's got a new keyboard / leather folio case out for the XOOM, and it's on sale for a pretty reasonable $85. Spiffy. It's unknown if the keyboard is connecting via Bluetooth, but that seems like the most obvious way to go about doing this, as there's no mention of any sort of charging functionality, so we assume it's all done sans wires. You can get it from Verizon here. Oh, and the $85 price tag includes free 2 day shipping. Sounds like a deal to us.

via AndroidMixer

May

[New Release] SwiftKey X Beta Hits The Android Market, Adds New Ways to Read Your Mind

Posted by Matt Demers in Applications, News

Keyboard replacement developer TouchType has released a beta of its newest software, SwiftKey X, out to the public. Previously only available to the service's VIP subscribers, the keyboard replacement will be available for free for a limited time.

New Hotness

The newest version adds a lot of features, most of which are designed to help you get words onto the screen quickly. SwiftKey's game has always been one of text prediction: its ability to learn from your SMS and language modules made it perfect for those who find themselves relying on auto-correct a lot.

SwiftKey X goes one step further than just SMS; this time, the app is able to search your Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail for new words and commonly typed sentences.

May

Samsung Parades 10 Galaxy Tab 10.1 Accessories Ahead Of Launch, Including HDMI Adapter, Keyboard Docks, And More

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Tab 10.1, News, Samsung, Tablets

Last Updated: May 25th, 2011

Just so you're not worried that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet with its single proprietary 30-pin connector (according to Wikipedia, it's not the standard PDMI port) is going to be crippled in the HDMI, USB, storage, and keyboard department, the company unveiled a whole host of [rather expensive] accessories that should satisfy even the most needy ones among you.

Since over 5000 Google I/O attendees already received and inspected every inch of their 10.1s, you may have already seen a flood of complaints regarding the absence of any kind of standard connectors, be it USB, HDMI, or SD.

May

Hacker's Keyboard Brings A Full Keyboard Experience To Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you've been looking for a full, 5-row keyboard experience on your Android device, then look no further - Hacker's Keyboard may fit the bill perfectly. HK is really designed to be used with apps like ConnectBot for SSH since it features working Tab, Ctrl, Alt, Esc, and arrow keys, but it's worth noting that this keyboard may not work properly with all apps. The reason for this is because some apps may not recognize the additional keys, as they weren't built to handle that type of virtual input.

However, if you experience any other problems while using this app, the developer requests that you file a bug in the issue tracker so he can work on a resolution.

May

Rumor: Dell Streak Pro 10-inch Tablet Packing Tegra 2, Keyboard Dock, Weighs As Much As a XOOM?

Posted by David Ruddock in Dell, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2

After spending some reviewing the Dell Venue last week, I have a renewed interest in the world of all things combining Dell and Android. But, let's face it, Dell hasn't exactly had a great track record with its Android hardware, particularly its first attempt at a tablet - the universally-disliked Streak 7.

The Streak name, then, does evoke a bit of a grimace for most folks familiar with Android hardware. The Streak 5 wasn't much of a winner, either - particularly because it shipped with the ancient Android 1.6, and had an OS update delay that could only be described in Samsung proportions.