News has come through from WMPoweruser, today, about a whole new way for you to write text on your phone. A new innovative system, that promises to make the writing of a text message into a free-form, expressive triumph of movement.
It’s just unfortunate that it looks like it’d be an absolute dog’s bottom to actually use…
Now, I won’t deny the idea is innovative. It basically combines a standard alphanumeric keypad with accelerometers, the sensors that let the phone know exactly what angle it’s being held at; whether you’re moving it; whether it’s being waved about; or whether it’s stood still. If you’ve seen a phone whose screen changes angle depending on how you’re holding the phone (you know, like the HTC Magic), or if you’ve ever held a Wiimote, then you’ve seen an accelerometer in action.
Their new patent, though, ties them in with the keyboard, and from what I can gather, you pick the letter you want to type by holding down the key and flicking the phone. Like, maybe, holding ’1′ and flicking the phone forward for ‘A’. Innovative, but not the most efficient system in the world, is it…?
Think about it, we already have a quick way of tapping in letters from the keypad. It’s called “using your fingers”. Besides, I reckon if you use this flicky typing method for any length of time, you run the risk of your wrist dropping off from shaking the phone about. No such worries with the ol’ multi-tap or T9 entry method on something like the Samsung Tocco Ultra.
Still, it’s always nice to see innovation, even if it is a bit pointless…
Would you use the flicky typey method if it was available? Or would you stick to tapping keys, old school stylee? Leave us a comment and have your say!