CooTek has announced a virtual keyboard technology for Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0 it claims is a "truly practical alternative to a hardware keyboard, even for business users." TouchPal, free to download until Dec.
8th, permits entering up to 300 characters per minute, the company claims.
The software, whose operation is illustrated by the animated image below, is said to use the company's patented "T+" technology, which places two letters and a symbol on each button of a QWERTY-based keyboard layout. Users can slide their fingers left or right on a key to precisely input a character, down to input a symbol, or up to switching case.
CooTek's TouchPal software places three characters on each key
Tapping in the center of a key instead of sliding to the edge invokes the software's word-prediction capabilities, said to reduce the number of clicks required to input words (for example, "ack" could quickly be turned into "acknowledge"). Once a predicted word appears on the keyboard, users can press and slide down on it to change endings or view other words associated with it, according to the company.
A TouchPal demonstration shows input of up to 300 characters per minute (click to play) Source: CooTek Ltd.
In addition to requiring a Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0 device, TouchPal needs a touchscreen display with QVGA (320 x 240) or VGA (640 x 480) resolution, and 2MB (QVGA version) or 4MB (VGA version) of free space on a device. After Dec. 8th, it will cost approximately $20, but can be downloaded now from the company's website, here.
