Most Asked Question About My Smartphone – Typing
The question I am most frequently asked – when folks learn I have an Android smart phone – is “how is the typing?” (They ask that when tablets/iPads get mentioned, too.)
click to see how this image was made in photoshop (tutorial)
Sometimes, this question comes from Blackberry owners, or others whose phones have some kind of mini-keyboard (buttons). These folks are used to “texting” by “thumb-typing”, and some of them are .. um, leery of the “on screen” keyboard. With a “touchscreen” it is true, you do not get the tactile feedback that you do with buttons.
Other times, the person asking has managed to avoid the whole “smart phone” scene, but now that they have seen all the ads on TV for the new 4G world of Internet on your phone, and Androids and iPhones, now have a keener interest.
When I am asked, I tell them that I don’t “type” on my Android — I either talk to it (voice recognition) or “Swype” on it. People want to know if voice recognition, and touch screen typing work properly, or if it is buggy. In my experience with my HTC, running Android 2.2, I would have to say, yes, neither voice recognition nor Swype get it right all the time – 100% – no errors. But I am amazed at how infrequently I have to correct it. And I suspect each feature will only get better as they mature.
Instead of trying to explain what “swype-ing” is, I suggest watching this brief video. (It explains it better than I can.)
unrelated (fun): Been to Google yet today? Very cool mod to the homepage today.. to see it, click here.
Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
2 Comments »
Post your Comment/Question
• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
-
Say "thank you!" Buy Tech Paul a cup of coffee (and keep T4E ad free).
-
-
McAfee® Cybersafety Resource Portal, an online help center designed to assist victims of computer crime and provide information on how to avoid becoming a victim.
-
Subscribe to Tech--for Everyone by EmailRecent Comments
-
-
-
-
Also:
-
-
Tech - for Everyone 
I’ve been a huge fan of the swipe style keyboards on my Android phone since I got it. The voice to text is amazing. All the voice search options are a blast to play with. I used it when I was in a time crunch once and was truly impressed with how well it worked.
Google is really on to something with these Android phones. I don’t see myself ever using anything else.
LikeLike
gadzooks64,
Good to see you here again.
I know that I talk a bit low, and slow, and probably don’t enunciate as much as I should, but in spite of that, the VR does quite well. I just have to get over feeling weird about “giving dictation”. (For some reason.. “speaking” out my email message just doesn’t .. feel right to me – yet. Unnatural. I guess is the word I am trying to say.) Due to that, I tend to “swype” more than “VR”.. but that’s just me.
This tech is pretty amazing. I suppose it won’t be too long before they have some chip we can wear in a cap, or have in the arm of our eyeglasses, that will ‘read’ the words we form in our mind and display them on screen… think – to – text.
Ha!
LikeLike