Amazon has updated its Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet to include a number of new features. Swipe support, the camera app that previously appeared on the 8.9-inch version, and the addition of the child-friendly Kindle FreeTime Unlimited service have been put into the latest over-the-air upgrade, putting the handheld's operating system at version 7.2.2
SwiftKey is teasing its latest upcoming Android virtual keyboard extension with the SwiftKey Flow, which will soon be released as a beta to those who sign up. The embedded video demo below certainly impresses with the speed of the real-time prediction algorithms. Both regular taps and flowing gestures are supported at the same time, so users don't have to select one or the other.
Nuance Communications has, once again, released a beta of its Swype keyboard for Android devices. Those who download it will now have access to the latest slang and trending words with an auto complete-like suggestion feature. To get the hotwords, users will need to sign up for updates, however.
Nuance has released an update to the Swype beta. The new version of the Android virtual keyboard adds more capabilities, including a new voice-text dictionary sync feature, next-word prediction, support for over 55 languages, and now four different input methods. Also introduced is crawling existing emails and texts on a device to improve word prediction.
Swype has updated its beta track to answer a common request from Android 4.0 users for support. The early version lets Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, and some tablet owners get the swipe-based text recognition as well as catch up on recent features. It should include DragonGo voice commands as well as downloadable languages on tablets.
Swype will be posting an update for Android users shortly. The company has Tweeted that an Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) version of its app, which offers a customizable virtual keyboard, will soon support the latest Android release. The company promises the update will fix a compatibility problem with ICS as well as adding new features.
A new Swype beta this week has given the Android keyboard add-on its first voice recognition. Nuance's Dragon Dictation now lets users speak what they want to say without having to either switch to Google's on-screen keyboard or live with its limitations. The interface comes through a simple keyboard shortcut and doesn't replace the signature Swype interface.
Netflix has released an update for its Android app, providing support for 4.x Android devices (free, Android Market). The timing of the new version is synchronized with the first shipments in the US of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Most of the changes are to accommodate the lack of hardware navigation buttons.
(Update: confirmed) Nuance has reportedly bought Swype in a deal worth over $100 million based on new tips late Thursday. The deal would support its existing ownership of the T9 keyboard system with an advanced, full QWERTY layout. Uncrunched in getting word of the deal didn't get Nuance's intentions.
Swype this morning is offering a special promo to give Google Nexus S 4G owners first access to a new feature. Billed as App Gestures, the method lets users glide from the Swype key to other parts of the keyboard to cut, copy, and paste ,or else to put text in an app. At first, owners can move text either into Google Maps or into a new Twitter update.
The promised TouchWiz UX update for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been released on time. The upgrade so far applies to the Wi-Fi version of the tablet and includes a new set of Live Panel apps, a tray for mini apps and a version of Swype's custom keyboard in tablet form. At the same time, the Media Hub sports a new look.
Swype is currently preparing to update its self-titled keyboard utility with several new features. Version 3.0 will bring predictive text recognition, which is expected to further reduce the time it takes to type certain words. Users will also be able to take advantage of a horizontal list for word choices, rather than a popup window.
Verizon ended one of the longer waits for its 4G smartphones by committing to a launch date for the LG Revolution. True to leaks, the Android LTE phone will ship May 26 for $250. The production version will also be the first phone to ship with Netflix for Android preloaded for movie viewing.
Verizon got its first dual-core smartphone on Wednesday with the official confirmation of its long-in-waiting Droid X2. The smartphone is a major upgrade to the original and packs a dual-core, 1GHz Tegra 2 that helps both for gaming and for HDMI video out. Its display has taken a leap as well, staying at 4.3 inches but growing the resolution from 480x854 to 540x960.
Newcomer SnapKeys used an event at CTIA to show off a fresh approach to keyboards on tablets, including the iPad, that only uses thumbs. Ideally, the SnapKeys 2i system would not only make typing on a tablet easier to use but promises a very intelligent auto-correct system that lets users type faster than they would otherwise. Find out in our hands-on below whether it's ready to go or if we think it might face some challenges to adoption.
The Samsung Gem Android phone has now been claimed by provider Alltel. The device ships with Android 2.1 and sports a 3.2-inch touchscreen along with a relatively quick 800MHz procssor. A 3.2-megapixel camera on the back keeps in line with the budget focus, although the Wi-Fi carries hotspot support for sharing.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak during his time as a guest on the Engadget Show supported suspicions that the white iPhone 4's numerous delays might be blamed on the camera. Having bought the official but never shipped original parts from Fei Lam, he found that any photo taken with the flash on looked as though it were taken through cellophane from the spilled-out light. Earlier rumors had the white-painted glass both leaking light and possibly reflecting too much of the light.
Samsung this morning rolled out four mid- and low-range Android phones to target a field it has largely left untouched for over a year. It confirmed the Galaxy Ace and cast it as relatively fast, with an 800MHz processor to drive its 3.5-inch, 480x320 display. A five-megapixel camera, GPS and Wi-Fi fill out the hardware; it and the other phones all carry Android 2.2 along with Swype to speed up the on-screen keyboard.
While still unofficial, a leak courtesy of TmoNews seems to confirm that the Huawei Ideos handset is due to arrive at T-Mobile. The report even provides a launch date, November 3, and reveals that the entry-level Android 2.2 handset will be known as the Comet at the provider. The phone will sport a thre-megapixel camera, GPS and Swype for its virtual keyboard.
T-Mobile's other upcoming HSPA+ phone, the myTouch HD, has potentially been validated through an internal document that suggests it may be the fastest and most advanced Android phone this year. The sheet handed to TmoNews lists it as having a dual-core 1GHz processor that would line up with testing of the HTC Glacier earlier in the summer. Backing the chip and the connection, it would be T-Mobile's first phone with an enabled front video camera for chat or live streaming.
Samsung was dealt a blow today as it lost a text messaging record that had been set just hours earlier to an iPhone 4 user. Salford, UK-based Melissa Thompson had beaten a previous texting record by typing two sentences in 25.94 seconds on a Galaxy S, but El Paso, Texas-based Brian Sweet proved that he had already beaten the record and posted a video (below) as evidence. He typed the message in 21.8 seconds using the stock iPhone 4 keyboard, even after having to start the timer himself and with virtually no use of auto-correction.
Samsung today posted a teaser site and video (below) for the Galaxy Tab. The clip doesn't provide more than was already known but confirms the front camera for "video calling," 720p playback and Android 2.2 out of the box. Other brief teases clearly show the Swype keyboard as well as make references to e-reading and GPS mapping.
The Samsung Vibrant is being offered for about half price, or just $99, today only at T-Mobile. The deal is also only available online and not in stores. T-Mobile still requires a two-year contract.
Samsung today launched a full attack on the US smartphone market by unveiling four versions of the Galaxy S. The Epic 4G for Sprint is the most unique and uses that carrier's WiMAX speeds much like the Evo 4G: it can share its connection as a Wi-Fi hotspot and brandishes a front-facing video camera for chat. A sliding QWERTY keyboard makes it unique among all the US launches.
Startup Swype has announced that it is currently developing a version of its input software for the iPhone. The company hopes to license its keyboard technology to Apple, although the proposition has yet to be formally introduced to the iPhone maker.
Text input app Swype is now available for any Android phone from the company's website. Before this, only certain Android handsets came pre-installed with the Swype app and 25,000 beta versions were released for testing. The available beta download will only be up for a couple of days, and its features will be limited, though exactly how isn't clear. User support is limited to forum questions, for example.
Swype, a Seattle-based company that has developed a new, faster way of texting on touchscreen devices, has just secured a second round of funding from Nokia, Samsung and an older investor, Benaroya Capital. The technology involves swiping a finger across a virtual keyboard rather than hitting each key individually, with software that will predict the indented word based on the finger's motion and any pauses or changes of direction. The technology has thus far only appeared on the Samsung Omnia II handset.
