Swype

Feb

Swype Beta Update Begins Rolling Out, Features Dragon GO! Integration And Support For Android 4.0

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

A new beta update for Swype has begun rolling out and will hit tester's handsets over the next 72 hours. The big changes, if you couldn't tell by the title, are Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) support and the integration of Dragon GO! - unsurprising, since Swype was purchased by Nuance and Dragon Dictation support has been rolled in since December. Specifically, the update adds functionality to the "Dragon" key which allows users to dictate speech using the infamous engine, as well as launch the Dragon GO! app.

Other improvements include improved prediction accuracy, and a few bugfixes regarding language modeling and dictionaries.

Dec

The First Fruits Of The Nuance-Swype Buyout Come To Light: Swype Updated With Dragon Dictation And Improved Language Modeling

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Nuance, the company behind Dragon Dictation, bought out Swype almost three months ago, but the results of the deal haven't really been exposed since. No longer -- Swype has just been updated with a "Dragon Flame" key that, when pressed, initiates a voice-to-text system provided by none other than Dragon Dictation. In its current form, it features support for French, Italian, German, and English, with Swype representatives claiming more languages are on the way in 2012.

Additionally, Swype's language modeling algorithm has been improved. What's that mean? In the company's words, this will "increase the accuracy of the suggestions we offer (such as knowing that you mean 'mosh pit' instead of 'mosh pot')." The system analyzes your writing and shapes its predictions around the context of your sentences.

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

[Update: It's Confirmed] Nuance Reportedly Purchasing Swype For More Than $100 Million

Posted by Ron Amadeo in News

Update: Thisismynext.com has confirmed the purchase with Nuance for "approximately $100 million". It's really real.

Nuance Communications. You probably know them as the company that makes Dragon Naturally Speaking, a speech recognition program. Well, they have another little known side project: Nuance loves keyboards. Like, really loves keyboards.

They own the T9 typing style and the company that invented it. They have their own Android keyboard called Flex T9. A little over a year ago, they bought Shapewriter, Swype's main competitor.

Apparently all that isn't enough to quench Nuance's insatiable lust for keyboards. According to Michael Arrington of Uncrunched, they've decided to drop a cool hundred million on Swype.

Sep

[Keyboard App Shootout Part 1] Swype Is The Hare To The Traditional Keyboard's Tortoise

Posted by Ron Amadeo in App Reviews, Applications, Features, Keyboard Shootout, Reviews

Last Updated: October 6th, 2011

Greetings, dear reader! Tell me, how happy are you with your current keyboard? Autocorrect got you down? Looking for something a little different? Well, AP is here to help. Crack those knuckles and wipe down that screen, 'cause we're doing a keyboard shootout.

I'll bet you the keyboard is your most used app, and you don't even realize it. Just think of all the searches, texts, and notes you poke out on a daily basis. Any improvement would be a big time saver. Luckily, everyone seems to think the keyboard is broken, and that they can improve on it.

Aug

Swype Beta 3.25 Now Available, Brings All The Features Of The Nexus S 4G Version, Without The Custom Skin

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

As promised yesterday, the Swype team have released an update to the beta version of their keyboard that brings all of the same features as the recent NS4G-exclusive version, including gestures, personal dictionary, and a new feature called Swype Connect.

Swype Connect is a lightweight background service that collects Swype-specific data and ensures the integrity and validity of the installation, while reporting usage details and device information back to Swype's servers. Like most apps that collect such information, Swype Connect doesn't gather anything personal, just basic information that can then be used to enhance and improve future versions.

Aug

New Nexus S 4G Version Of Swype Will Be Coming To All Handsets This Week, Minus Sprint Branding

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, News

In an official communication with the company, we've been told that the Sprint-exclusive update to Swype on the Nexus S 4G will be coming to the Swype beta channel for all supported handsets this week.

The update will lack the nifty Sprint-specific skin of the Nexus S 4G version, but will contain the improved capitalization, the Swype-specific personal dictionary, and the new gesture support for launching apps like Twitter and Facebook, as well as editing text in a quick and efficient manner by providing gesture shortcuts for select all, cut, copy, and paste.

We've removed our links to the ported .apk in our previous post at the request of Swype, who have valid concerns about licensing of the Sprint-branded version which is currently floating around over at XDA.

Aug

Latest Version Of Swype Breaks Free Of The Nexus S 4G, Now Available For Rooted Android Devices

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Mods, News

Update: At the request of Swype, we have removed the links to this ported version of Swype for the Nexus S 4G because of licensing concerns regarding the Sprint branding. Also, because this same update will be rolled out on Swype Beta for all devices this week. Check out the announcement, here.

Just about a week ago, Sprint let Nexus S 4G owners in on a new version of Swype that improved capitalization of proper nouns, spruced up the UI, and introduced shortcut gestures (see the video below). Unfortunately, users of all non-NS4G Android phones were left out of the fun; therefore, we did not consider the update newsworthy.

Jun

[Updated] EVO Shift 4G Gingerbread OTA Update Dropping June 17th

Posted by David Ruddock in EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, News, Sprint, Tips

Update: The EVO Shift 4G will be getting this OTA on the 17th if you initiate the update check manually, and by June 20th, it should start rolling out to all devices automatically! So be on the lookout for it on Friday.

You thought we couldn't pack any more EVO exclusives in today? Well, you thought wrong! We've learned from our intrepid tipster, Captain Anonymous, another interesting tidbit this afternoon: EVO Shift 4G Gingerbread update (version 2.76.651.4) - June 20th. The EVO's younger sibling won't have any reason for version envy come Monday. Oh, Shift users will also be getting Swype as their new stock software keyboard option - so that's a plus, if you like Swype.

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.