iPhone 2.0 handwriting bought from third-party dev?
updated 09:30 am EDT, Wed May 28, 2008
iPhone handwriting source
The handwriting code said to be in the iPhone 2.0 firmware was bought from a third-party company, reports claim. A developer of HWPen, a Chinese application still available for jailbroken iPhones, says the software was originally produced for Hanwang to allow entering Chinese characters, but has since been acquired by Apple for the same purposes; Apple has allegedly even stripped out English support, which the unofficial app included tangentially.
The developer says he is otherwise unwilling to go into extra details, as he has signed a non-disclosure agreement. Requests are said to have been sent to forums posting pictures of HWPen, although images can still be found online in a number of locations. It is also unclear why Apple would need Chinese-language support at this stage, as it has yet to sign iPhone deals in Chinese-speaking countries. Attempts at negotiating with carriers such as China Mobile have not made any progress.
It's unclear?
05/28, 10:09am reply
Just because Apple has yet to sign any Chinese contracts doesn't mean they aren't going to be developing the solution already. It's going to take time to get the software in place so that when they do sign a contract they are ready to go. Not a big surprise there.
bjojade
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2007
odd
05/28, 10:09am reply
You'd think Apple could have used the Inkwell software they touted so much back in 10.2 (or 10.3) and then promptly ignored.
And, um, maybe they need Chinese language support because they plan on selling the phone in China. One usually doesn't wait until AFTER you make your product available in a country before you decide to add support for that country.
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Oh
05/28, 10:16am reply
And while Apple hasn't signed any deal with a chinese company, bear in mind they haven't publicly announced signing a deal with anyone outside the few countries done at the beginning of the year that actually sell iPhones (what is it now, the US, England, France, and Germany?).
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Classic...
05/28, 03:15pm reply
"It is also unclear why Apple would need Chinese-language support at this stage, as it has yet to sign iPhone deals in Chinese-speaking countries."
Typical MacNN clueless reporting -- a) they acquired a best of breed software to prevent it being acquired by a competitor, since eventually they will be selling Chinese language territories, b) Maybe they already signed deals, with Taiwan, for example
ZinkDifferent
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2005
Re: classic
05/28, 05:16pm reply
What competitor would want/need the software, since its written for the iPhone?
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Launguage
06/13, 11:30pm reply
Hong Kong and Singapore are Chinese speaking and signed.
Check your facts before writing stupid articles.
moonmonkey
Professional Poster
Joined: Jan 2001
Language
06/19, 02:14am reply
The chinese speaking populations of countries such as the USA are sgnificant, For Apple to ignore the most widely spoken language in the world would be some pretty stupid planning.
rytc
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001