Samsung Galaxy S 4 drafts in Swiftkey to power its keyboard
We'd heard rumors that Swiftkey might have assisted Blackberry on its well-received (and often prescient) BB10 keyboard, but the app maker has now confirmed that its software is behind the Galaxy S 4's native keyboard. It's the first time that the company's publicly admitted to powering a handset manufacturer's keys and will sidestep the need for S4 users to download its standalone app. Though, there's still plenty of reasons to download the app from Google play if you dig the customization options and themes of the original. Swiftkey's CTO Ben Medlock said that the keyboard is "at the heart of [Samsung's] flagship smartphone" and is hopefully just the first of many Android devices arriving with the company's voodoo already built in. We've added Ben's full statement after the break.
Update: The company reached out to us to clarify that while its prediction engine is at the heart of Samsung's keyboard it is not Swiftkey in the purest sense. The natural comparison it reached for? Android and TouchWiz.
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Dr. Ben Medlock, co-founder and CTO of SwiftKey, said from the New York launch: "Following our great success with the SwiftKey 4 launch last month, we are excited to confirm that Samsung has chosen SwiftKey's innovative keyboard technology to be at the heart of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4. This is fantastic progress for our vision of bringing the best touchscreen typing experience to as many people as possible."
