auto correct
Latest
These are the words iOS won't suggest for you
Everybody loves a fun auto-correct snapshot, and while some of the more popular examples floating around the web do seem a little bit too hilarious to actually be real, you'd be surprised as to what iOS will come up with when it thinks your spelling is in need of a little guidance. As a personal example, a friend recently wanted to invite me to a local spot called "Melrose Diner." Instead, I received an invite via text to a place comically called the "Metrosexual Diner." A few seconds later, I received an invite to a place called the "Meal Rose Diner." Funny stuff. Auto-correct had struck again. So while auto-correct in iOS will do its darndest to either correct a misspelling or, at the very least, give you something to laugh about, there are a slew of words that iOS will simply not auto-correct, no matter how close the typed word is to the real thing. What's more, there are a number of misspelled words that Apple will not even proffer complete suggestions for when the user's intent could not be any more clear. Michael Keller of The Daily Beast recently took a look at some of those words and, not surprisingly, they all are rather loaded, sensitive and controversial. When you misspell a word on an iOS device-iPhones, iPads, etc., it will be underlined in red. Double-tap the garbled word, and a menu will appear in which you can pick from a few suggestions; hopefully the word you intended to write will be there. This fix works for the vast majority of words -- but a few, like those mentioned above, won't have any suggestions at all, even if you were mistaken by only one character. ... According to a Daily Beast analysis, iPhones running Apple's latest software will not suggest corrections for even slight misspellings of such hot-button words as "abortion," "rape," "ammo" and "bullet." For example, if a user types "abortiom" with an "m" instead of an "n," the software won't suggest a correction, as it would with nearly 150,000 other words. Some other words that Apple won't issue suggestions for include "murder," "virginity," "homoerotic," "marijuana," "suicide" and "abduct."
SwiftKey 3.0.1 brings new themes, languages and bug fixes
Rejoice, Android keyboard enthusiasts! SwiftKey announced today that it's pushing out an update to its popular virtual keyboard that brings new themes, languages and bug fixes. Version 3.0.1 incorporates two new summer themes -- Sky blue and Fuchsia -- and bumps the language count to 44 with the addition of Malay and Urdu. The keyboard now also supports continuous dictation with Google voice typing on Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. Most important, however, are a plethora of tweaks, performance improvements and bug fixes designed to further improve the SwiftKey user experience. We've been using the update for a few hours now on AT&T's red Galaxy S III and it definitely makes our favorite Android virtual keyboard even better. Hit the break for screenshots of the new themes plus the full PR.
SwiftKey 3 for Android out of beta: smarter auto spacing, $1.99 today (video)
"Lleasexqllme." SwiftKey 3 won't see that as gibberish, but as "Please call me," thanks to its new spacing prediction that has been repeatedly tweaked since the beta first came out in April. The final version is now available at the Google Play link below with a temporary half-price offer. It also promises a bigger space bar, a dedicated comma key, new themes, smarter punctuation and special character prediction, support for Android backup so you'll never lose the database of learned phrases, and overall less teeth-clenching while you're typing.
Your iPhone and salty language
Some of you may have noticed that your iPhone or iPod touch is a bit prudish. Type a salty word and you'll likely be presented with a benign and completely inappropriate alternative (see screenshot at right). The problem (if you want to call it that) isn't that one can't swear, but that quickly-written sentences often have their meaning completely changed. Here's how you can knock your iPhone off of its moral high horse.While we haven't found a way for end users to easily add a word to the iPhone's dictionary, there's a great & NSFW post at T'N'T Luoma (be warned, there are saltier words than "hell" over there) describing a clever trick using your contacts list. Of course, you could either click the little "x" to dismiss the suggestion or disable auto-correction completely (under OS 2.2), but what's the fun in that? We hope you find this trick handy. Just be careful when printing contact labels for your holiday cards.Thanks TJ![via Daring Fireball]
PhotoBot provides automatic touchups to your pictures
Sure, you might have an exorbitantly expensive DSLR, or maybe you've forked out for a digicam touting OIS, but even the most brilliant photographs can't truly shine without a little TLC in the post-processing lab. While a bit of Photoshop or Aperture work can go a long way, the process itself can become a bit grueling, and Tribeca Labs is aiming to take time out of the equation and make touchups as good as automatic. Its PhotoBot software runs in the background of any Windows XP / 2000 PC (better fire up Boot Camp, dear Mac users) and automatically sniffs out freshly loaded pictures. Once located, the 'Bot works its magic without so much as a confirmation click, and Tribeca claims the program will brighten dark images, reduce red-eye, enhance colors, and take the guesswork out of perfecting a photo. Additionally, it will upload your pics to a "Swiss Picture Bank" (for a $5 / month fee, of course), so you can presumably rest easy knowing your precious files are residing safely on redundant storage halfway across the world. While we can't say for sure how well this contrivance actually works, nor how heavy it relies on system resources, you might as well give it a spin while it's still in beta (read: free). [Via CNET]
