Gee's Blog World: Swype, the high-speed on-screen keyboard for Android opens up for public beta testing (and a video review)

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Swype, the high-speed on-screen keyboard for Android opens up for public beta testing (and a video review)

Swype, if you've not heard of it before, is a new on-screen keyboard input method. It does away with the abhorrent, RSI-inducing finger-tip tapping method of input on today's smartphones. In fact, judging by the 'Swype vs. iPhone' video that TechCrunch pushed out last year, Swype might even be as fast as those little BlackBerry keyboards.

But enough talk of iPhones and BlackBerrys -- Swype's main purpose is replacing the tap-tap-tap on-screen keyboard that ships with Android smartphones. I hope Swype eventually appears on other smartphone platforms, but for now it's Android-only -- and as of this morning, you can join the public beta and get your hands on a free copy of Swype. They say it'll only be open for a few days, so you'll want to get in there quickly.

Anyway, rather than listing the features, I suggest you watch the video review above. I must warn you, I do say 'ass' and 'shit' a few times, so it may not be safe for work (depending on where you work).