Swype

= = = Swype = toc Swype is a continuous text input technology developed by Clifff Kushler, and built off of his T9 predictive text technology designed for typing on touch screen devices. It is an intuitive alternative to traditional touch screen tap typing that works by dragging your fin ger across a traditional QWERTY keyboard in a fluid motion to type words.

Swype is the spiritual successor of T9 assistive typing technology.The technology behind Swype is one built off of a C++ algorithm. Swype is designed around the following 4 major proprietary technologies, “an input path analyzer for Swyping, a predictive tap corrective engine for tapping, a word matching search engine with accompanying word database, and a flexible user interface”. The combination of the "input path analyzer" algorithm and "the word matching search engine and database" are the core of what makes Swype successful in predicting the word that the user is attempting to input. Swype has taken off on Android because of the "flexible user interface" that allows the various Android developers to augment the QUERTY keyboard to match the developer’s aesthetics. Customization is a core ethic of Android and Swype encourages the value.

The combination of these technologies allows Swype to accurately predict the word that is being imputed at a speed of 40 words a minute. The strength of Swype’s technology is the strength of the predictive text technology is the ability to identify the correct word even in the most typo ridden environment. Swype has become a standard on Android devices strengthen the technologies position in the smart phone era. Since Swype's debut at 2008 TechCrunch 50, it has become a viable technology for touch screen text input is position to become the same kind of standard that T9 was for dumb phones.

Swype Today and Tomorrow
Swype was designed by T9 predictive text creator Clifff Kushler and was first introduced as a beta for Android mobile devices at TechCrunch50 in 2008. Kushler developed the technology originally for head tracking recognition but it was soon adapted for as a viable alterative for tap typing on capacitive screens. The technology works equally well for both capacitive and resistive touch and is a reaction to the dominance of capacitive screens on smart phones. Since 2008 Swype has become a standard feature on many touch screen devices. Android championed the technology from its start. With the adaption within Android Swype is attempting to develop for other plat froms such as pas Windows phone7, linux, and Symbian^3 .The only glaring omission to Swype adoption is iOS. The Swype team is working on a version for iOS but the future of such implementation is unsure since Apple does not typically allow apps that integrate too tightly with native iOS applications .Much the same can be said of Swype’s future on Windows Phone 7 since Microsoft’s ecosystem is more akin to Apple's. Even without iOS and Windows Phone 7 the future of Swype looks good with the recent acquisition by Nuance and the company’s drive to integrate most modern platforms such as televisions, tablets, and video game consoles.

Swype and Information Centers
Swype is an aggressive technology that is poised to take a central role in touch screen input. With the further integration of tablets, televisions, and video game consoles touchscreen technology is finding a new position of primacy in information technology. Information professionals will need to adapt be well versed in the use of Swype to properly assist their patrons.

TechCrunch50 2008: Swype Presentation
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**Examples** media type="youtube" key="4dj-vyx9hAM" height="315" width="560"

**References**
Blandford, R. (2010). Swype now available for Symbian. all about symbian.com. Retrieved from []

blip.tv. (2008). TechCrunch50: Swype Presentation w/ Judges Questions. Retrieved from []

Moma. (2010). Exhibitions. Talk to Me: Swype. Retrieved from []

Needleman, R.(2008). Move over T9, here comes Swype. //Cnet//. Retrieved from []

Paul, R.(2011). Nuance swipes Swype in $102 million deal. //Arstechnica//. Retrieved from []

Paul, R. (2010). Hands-on: Swype keyboard for Android is sweeptastic. //Arstechnica.// Retrieved from []

Pogue, d. (2010). The Swype revolution?. The New York Times. Retrieved from []

Swype. (2011). Retrieved from []