![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/swype-logo.png\" "\\"swype-logo\\""){kind=logo}
\nYou would probably think that typing on a full size keyboard would beat typing on a cell phone’s teensy, Munchkin keyboard \u2014 and especially a cell phone’s touchscreen keyboard. Boy, are you wrong!
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\nSwype is a utility that lets you skim your finger over a touchscreen keyboard to rapidly input text. When done well, it’s faster than touch-typing. Much faster.<\/p>\n
The tool is so easy to use, that I’m certain no one over the age of 35 will ever take to it.<\/p>\n
Basically, it goes like this: You enable Swype on the keyboard. You can still use the keyboard to hunt-and-peck, but you can also drag your finger over various letters to type out words. It works very well. For example:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/howdy.png\" "\\"howdy\\"")
Swyping Above, the word If you Swype something unrecognizable, a list pops up from which you can choose a word, or you can add the unrecognized word to the Swype dictionary for future use.<\/p>\n To Swype a capital letter, you have to go to that letter, then drag your finger above the screen, such as:<\/p>\n Swyping Doing a double letter, such as the OO in Wambooli<\/em>, is accomplished by dawdling over a letter with a teensy circle:<\/p>\n Swyping a double letter, such as the oo<\/em> in Spaces are automatic when you Swype; it’s assumed that the end of your finger-dragging adventure is the end of a word. Even then, my guess is that Swype is designed for quick-and-dirty messages \u2014 texting and email replies from a phone \u2014 as opposed to writing letters to the editor or international treaties.<\/p>\n As I am well over 35-years-old, the Swype thing is strange and alien to me. Then again, I love tricks so I’ll probably sit down and learn the ropes. (Well, even then, Android phones feature dictation and I use dictation far more than the onscreen keyboard.)<\/p>\nhowdy<\/code><\/p><\/div>\nhowdy<\/code> is typed. The red line traces where your finger goes, starting with the H and stopping at each letter in the word. Actually, you don’t need to stop; Swype’s intuitive software interpolates your path and then judges the word you’re typing based on the path.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/dan.png\" "\\"dan\\"")
Dan<\/code> with a capital D.<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/wambooli.png\" "\\"wambooli\\"")
Wambooli<\/code>.<\/p><\/div>\n