Engadget

Nuance reportedly buying Swype for $100 million

Sean Buckley — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:08:00 EST

It's only been about a year since Nuance traced Swype's finger gliding input method with QuickType, but it seems like the firm is ready for the real deal: Michael Arrington says it's nabbing the Seattle-based startup to the tune of $100 million. With competition heating up in the voice command space after Apple's Siri assisted iPhone upgrade, Nuance could be stocking up on more traditional input methods, or at the very least edging out the potential for more competition. There's no word just yet if Swype will replace or fade away in lieu of the firm's own traceable input brand, but we'll be sure to let you know if we hear something official.

Nuance reportedly buying Swype for $100 million originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T9 Trace ships as QuickType on Samsung's Wave II

Chris Ziegler — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:59:00 EST

So Samsung's Bada 1.2-based Wave II is now shipping in a variety of European and Asian markets, and it turns out that so phone's so-called "QuickType" input method is actually T9 Trace, Nuance's Swype competitor that was announced earlier this year. Just like Swype, T9 Trace works by letting the user glide a finger around the virtual keyboard to identify what letters they're trying to type -- and if it works as well as Swype does, it's a surprisingly natural, accurate, and fast way to enter text. Samsung, of course, has been one of Swype's longest-running partners, notably having its Omnia II featured in a Verizon commercial where the Guinness record for fastest text is broken -- so it'll be interesting to see whether Sammy keeps a healthy mix of T9 Trace and Swype in its products, or if Nuance has locked up a more lucrative deal. At any rate, follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading T9 Trace ships as QuickType on Samsung's Wave II

T9 Trace ships as QuickType on Samsung's Wave II originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Co-creator of T9, Martin King, passes away

Chris Ziegler — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:36:00 EST

Some of today's young'uns starting out on QWERTY and full-touch devices might not even know what T9 is, but let us tell you something: back in the day, it was the way things got done on your phone. Copied by a number of manufacturers and software firms (notably Motorola with iTap), T9 was the premier product of start-up Tegic that would eventually find its way to a majority of phones with numeric keypads sold around the world -- several billion, in fact -- and continues to enjoy enormous success today. T9's co-inventor, Martin King, passed away this week after a protracted bout with cancer; though he hadn't been actively involved with Tegic (now a part of Nuance) in some time, he had been engaged with a newer startup, Exbiblio, whose technology actively parses words snapped by cameraphones and directs the user to more information in real time. We'll pull out our old Sony Ericsson T68 in your honor, Martin.

Co-creator of T9, Martin King, passes away originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Swype psyched to be on Droid X, fifty total devices by the end of 2010

Joseph L. Flatley — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:19:00 EST

Love it or lump it, looks like Swype is making inroads into the mobile space. We've seen it on a few handsets already, and we know how eager the company is to get on the iPhone, but still it doesn't look like Apple's ready to bite. In the meantime, it seems that the company is more than happy to make due with the likes of HTC, Samsung, and Motorola -- the latter having gone with Swype for the Droid X. According to CEO Mike McSherry, this is the company's biggest coup yet, though certainly not the last -- he says to look for the app on some fifty phones by late 2010.

Swype psyched to be on Droid X, fifty total devices by the end of 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T9 Trace lets you Swype through your text messages

Vlad Savov — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:49:00 EST

You may or may not yet be aware of the Swype virtual keyboard (comes preloaded on the Cliq XT from Motorola), but you'll definitely be hearing about the T9 Trace from Nuance. This is because, although it's fundamentally the same thing as Swype (but from a different maker), the T9 Trace is on offer from the company behind the T9 predictive text dictionary that pretty much everyone from your 7-year old nephew to your octogenarian grandpa has used. The big idea here is that you trace out the word on your virtual keyboard without lifting your finger off, with short stops at each letter you want to add being taken for input. Once you get over the seemingly unintuitive idea of abandoning those woodpecker taps for the grace of tracing, it promises to be a real fun and rapid way to input text. Nuance has bundled the whole thing with error correction, word prediction and auto-completion, while supporting 70 languages. The company has yet to tell us when the T9 Trace will be showing up on phones (touchscreens only, for obvious reasons), but you can check out video of the competing Swype implementation after the break.

Continue reading T9 Trace lets you Swype through your text messages

T9 Trace lets you Swype through your text messages originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Digital Cube works WiFi, HD playback into i-Station T9, forgets the HD screen

Paul Miller — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:31:00 EST

It's pretty obvious what it takes to play in the current generation of PMPs: enough juice to process HD videos, and an HDMI port to get it off the player and onto the big screen. Unfortunately, the new i-Station T9 from Digital Cube sort of stops there. It has great codec support, and even WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity (to be enjoyed by what OS is unclear), but unlike its big brother S3's WVGA display, the mere 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 screen on the T9 will have us looking for an HDMI port a bit early. No word on price or availability.

Digital Cube works WiFi, HD playback into i-Station T9, forgets the HD screen originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RAmos T9 iMovie 2 PMP: 800 x 480, 16GB, $132

Joseph L. Flatley — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:04:00 EST

Yes, the kids at RAmos have arrived with that 800 x 480 PMP we first espied sometime in December. As you might have guessed, the T9 iMovie 2 is the followup to the smash hit T8 iMovie, sporting a polished aluminum alloy frame, 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen display, and 16GB storage. No further details at the moment, but if you can track this guy down he'll run you about $132.

[Via PMP Today]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

RAmos T9 iMovie 2 PMP: 800 x 480, 16GB, $132 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T9 Nav now available on S60 3rd Edition

Chris Ziegler — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:31:00 EST

Nuance's T9 division -- you know, the alpha keypad tech found in virtually every phone sold today -- has rolled out its shiny new T9 Nav software after going through beta last year, offering device-wide searching for device settings, applications, contacts, media, test messages, and pretty much anything else you can think of from one convenient location. Naturally, the app uses T9 to work its magic, which should feel right at home for pretty much anyone who's ever used a phone with a numeric keypad. For now, it's only available for S60 3rd Edition devices, and it'll run you €16.95 (about $22) from Nokia's Software Market.

Filed under: Software, Symbian

T9 Nav now available on S60 3rd Edition originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gemei and RAmos to offer 800 x 480 PMPs

Joseph L. Flatley — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:53:00 EST

Remember the Ainol V3000 we saw a while back? It looks like Gemei and RAmos are playing catch-up with some 800 x 480 PMPs of their own. It's been speculated that like the Ainol handheld, Gemei's X690HD will be rocking an Ingenic chipset, while the RAmos T9 could follow up its iMovie with either an Ingenic or a Rockchip. Hopefully this bombshell makes your day, because there really are no other specs to report. We assume you'll see these guys with FM tuners, TV outs, batteries, and storage at some unspecified point in the future. The usual. Keep your eyes peeled, Mainland China!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Gemei and RAmos to offer 800 x 480 PMPs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Swype finger-tracing text entry seems fast, hypnotic, and magical

Sean Cooper — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:18:00 EST

OK, well maybe difficult is stretching it somewhat, but it does look like it'll take some getting used to. Swype's creator is none other than one of the people involved in developing T9 -- which we simply couldn't get by without -- and applies the same concept of quicker typing, with less work. Instead of tapping keys, Swype has you simply trace your finger through the letters you want to use to spell the words. The system will apparently enable even a novice to quickly get up to speeds of 40 words a minute. We're itching to check this out and with the glut of touchscreen sets on the market -- iPhone, Touch Diamond, and on, an on -- we can see this really taking off if it works as well as in the demo. Nothing to download just yet, but we've signed up and are waiting for the word.

Filed under: Handsets, Software, Others

Swype finger-tracing text entry seems fast, hypnotic, and magical originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keepin' it real fake, part LXXV: MA-727 apes Samsung's T9B

Darren Murph — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:25:00 EST

There's blatant knockoffs, and then there's blatant knockoffs. As you can probably tell, this is most certainly a case of the latter, as the so-called creators of the MA-727 didn't even bother to take their own photo. Instead, it looks pretty clear that they simply doctored Samsung's own snapshot of the T9B, threw a pink miniSD card down beneath, and called it original. Sure, it can supposedly handle just about every format under the sun and touts a 2.4-inch display, built-in speaker, FM tuner, voice recorder, rechargeable Li-ion, and anywhere between 128MB and 2GB of internal storage, but we wouldn't recommend pulling the trigger on this one unless you've got more money than sense.

[Via PMPToday]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Keepin' it real fake, part LXXV: MA-727 apes Samsung's T9B originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Author taps out 384-page book using mobile

Sean Cooper — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:25:00 EST

We're usually pretty proud when we're able to crank out a few emails -- or mediate a discussion gone wrong in the comment section -- on our morning commute. Italian author Robert Burnocco has us trumped in style by actually using T9 and his mobile to cobble together a 384-page book in just 17 weeks. He was inspired to write his mobile opus, Compagni di Viaggio (Travelling companion) on the bus as apparently "In public transport, I realized that my imagination was productive and that the ideas abounded." We aren't sure what the buses are like in Italy, but we are usually just surrounded by lunatics and screaming schoolkids on our morning ride, hardly a top spot for creative endeavors.

[Via textually.org]

Filed under: Handsets, Messaging

Author taps out 384-page book using mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T9 predictive-text input developer purchased for $265M

Nilay Patel — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 06:22:00 EST

Tegic might not be a household name, but it's a solid bet you've used their software -- the company is responsible for the T9 predictive-text input system that's installed in virtually every cellphone out there. That makes Tegic worth about $265 million, apparently, because that's how much voice-recognition firm Nuance just dished out to Time Warner for the company. (Disclosure: Time Warner is our parent company's parent company.) Nuance is on a buying spree lately, having bought VoiceSignal, BeVocal, and Dictaphone in the past year -- the goal is apparently to control much of how users interact with their phones, be it voice, touch, or text. Here's hoping Nuance doesn't make any sweeping changes while they chase that rainbow -- at this point we're so hard-wired for T9 that it's difficult to imagine that it's licensed software and not, say, a fundamental property of mathematics. 4663 5825, 4897.

[Via RCRWireless News]

Filed under: Cellphones

T9 predictive-text input developer purchased for $265M originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 06:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T9 predictive-text input developer purchased for $265M

Nilay Patel — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 02:22:00 EST

Tegic might not be a household name, but it's a solid bet you've used their software -- the company is responsible for the T9 predictive-text input system that's installed in virtually every cellphone out there. That makes Tegic worth about $265 million, apparently, because that's how much voice-recognition firm Nuance just dished out to Time Warner AOL for the company. (Disclosure: AOL is our parent company's parent company.) Nuance is on a buying spree lately, having bought VoiceSignal, BeVocal, and Dictaphone in the past year -- the goal is apparently to control much of how users interact with their phones, be it voice, touch, or text. Here's hoping Nuance doesn't make any sweeping changes while they chase that rainbow -- at this point we're so hard-wired for T9 that it's difficult to imagine that it's licensed software and not, say, a fundamental property of mathematics. 4663 5825, 4897.

[Via RCRWireless News]

Filed under: Messaging, Software

T9 predictive-text input developer purchased for $265M originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 02:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's Yepp T9+ digital audio player

Darren Murph — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:12:00 EST

Various flavors of Samsung's T9 music player have been floating around for a good while now, but the Yepp T9+ version packs a little something extra for those not content with just listening to jams. Design wise, not much has changed, as users will still notice a 1.8-inch 220 x 176 resolution display and capacities up to 8GB in size, but this rendition reportedly includes multi-player gaming via built-in Bluetooth. It looks like a good five or so titles will be included, and while we've no doubt that Korean users will find one without issue, getting one over here in North America probably won't be as easy as it should be.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Wireless

Samsung's Yepp T9+ digital audio player originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's YEPP T9: pink, for someone special

Thomas Ricker — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:07:00 EST

Here's another V-day gadgety-gift idea for that special effeminate friend or iPod-less dictator with a taste for big red balls -- the Samsung Yepp T9, now in pink. That rose-colored bladder comes filled with Kenzo perfume which, presumably, is applied by hurling it at your mate like a water balloon... but that's us, and we date robots. This 2GB model comes blue in the tooth and festooned with plenty of doilies to show just how much of a sap you really are. Hitting South Korea on February 5th for 215,000KRW (about $228) just in time for their favorite Hallmark holiday -- who knew?

Filed under: Portable Audio

Samsung's YEPP T9: pink, for someone special originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's YP-T9, now with 8GB of tasty flash

Thomas Ricker — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:00:00 EST

With the (official) launch of Samsung's Yepp K3 presumably just weeks away, who could blame you for taking your eyes off the T9? Until January's CES, the T9 reigns supreme in Samsung's lineup of flash media players. It even sports its own "series" of third party accessories like the big boys... albeit, from just a single vendor so far. So today, Sammy announced an 8GB capacity bump to keep the Yepp competitive with all the other 8 giggers out there. The T9, however, delivers one notable exception: stereo Bluetooth. No details, but you can expect it to be priced to compete.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Samsung's YP-T9, now with 8GB of tasty flash originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World's fastest texter gets pwned by voice recognition

Chris Ziegler — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:32:00 EST

A young lad by the name of Ben Cook might be able to school his pals with his lightning-quick text messaging skillz (he even prefers plain ol' multi-tapping to predictive text) but one company set out to prove that the world's fastest texter is still no match for voice recognition. Nuance Communications is gearing up to release its Mobile Speech Platform to carriers -- a system that'll ultimately allow users to dictate SMSes, among other tasks -- and they obviously needed some high-profile way to get the word out, like picking on Ben Cook, for example. For the contest, Nuance pitted its software against Mr. Cook and two Nuance employees packing QWERTY and T9 devices, throwing them each this little tidbit of everyday conversation: "The razor toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygo centrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." Our world record holder finished in 48 seconds -- not bad, considering he was doing it without any predictive assistance -- but the software spanked everyone with just 16 seconds on the clock. Now we just need to take a hard look at why one would dictate an SMS (versus, say, placing a phone call) and we'll be jumping right on the bandwagon.

Filed under: Software, Misc

World's fastest texter gets pwned by voice recognition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big Brother is SMS savvy in some countries

Chris Ziegler — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 05:47:00 EST

It's no secret that China is rockin' some serious server power dedicated to filtering its SMS airwaves of unthinkable topics like Taiwan, democracy, and pornography, but other countries are getting in on the action, too. Belarus and Iran have both been called out in recent months for listening to its citizens' texts, and in Belarus' case, sending them as well. Although the technology for real-time filtering by keyword is largely homegrown (or so we hope), predictive text manufacturers like Tegic (disclaimer: Tegic is owned by Engadget's parent company's parent company, AOL) are receiving pressure from handset manufacturers to double- and triple-check their dictionaries for words that could be considered distasteful in countries with more oppressive governments than our own. Personally, discovering a word missing from T9 has never prevented us from typing it manually, but nonetheless -- between this and M-Track, we're about ready to head down into the Engadget bunker with a year's supply of Spam and just ride this whole thing out.

[Via textually.org]

Big Brother is SMS savvy in some countries originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jul 2006 05:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft "Wild Thing" text entry system for keypads

Marc Perton — Wed, 03 May 2006 15:53:00 EST

We've never had a whole lot of luck with predictive text-entry systems on cellphones, which is one reason we tend to get all hot and bothered every time we see a new, QWERTY model show up. But we're still intrigued by Microsoft's "Wild Thing" technology, which the company says uses artificial intelligence to translate keypad strings into useful text for searches. For example, if you want to search for Engadget, you would type 36423438, rather than having to perform multiple key-presses in order to toggle the correct character. Other abbreviations would allow you to search using abbreviations, such as TR SF for Thai restaurants in San Francisco. Microsoft is in talks with carriers and manufacturers to begin rolling out the service within the next year. We'll check it out, but our heart will still belong to QWERTY.

Filed under: Handsets, Messaging

Microsoft "Wild Thing" text entry system for keypads originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 May 2006 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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