Samsung Omnia introduces Swype, a supposedly faster way to type mobile text messages: “…a way to type blindingly fast on a touchscreen.” Gizmodo
Allow me to elaborate further: Swype is a simple input method for touchscreens developed by Swype Inc, which basically tries to position itself as a competitor to the “regular” mobile phones which utilize touchscreens, mainly the iPhone!
In the video below, in which, to tell you the truth, I am highly disappointed with, we are being presented with a comparison between typing on on a regular iPhone touchscreen as opposed to typing using Swype method.
Although the video makes it seem that Swype allows for much faster SMS creation, I have seen my friend, with my own eyes, type so much faster using her iPhone’s touchscreen and with no additional effort whatsoever! It’s a matter of habit, nothing more nothing less!
In my humble opinion, Swype seems to be more confusing than helpful! The faint lines that show as your moving from one letter to another completely hide the other letters. This means that in order to effectively use Swype, you should learn the keypad’s letters and positions by heart!
What do you think: Would you consider buying a Samsung Omnia just for the Swype typing method? Do you think such a feature could actually help raise Samsung Omnia’s market share? How fast can you type using your iPhone?
Waiting to read your comments and feedback below :)
How is social media affecting the old, traditional yet long-loved media channel: the television? Is social media slowly pushing television to its grave? How is social media able to encourage less television viewing and promote more Internet usage simultaneously?
Personally Speaking…
Television dead?
Allow me to begin this post by presenting you with a short personal experience of mine which will, in turn, help you realize how I thought about this topic and where my ideas are coming from in addition to where they are headed!
I have been a mildly heavy Internet user for the past two years or so. A year ago, my interests in reading, writing and going out started changing: I started spending more time on Facebook and less time for going out and seeing friends. Since March 2009, I think I became an “Internet addict”, replacing most outings and TV time with Internet use, especially social media related sites and channels! I can recall that the last time I actually sat down and watched anything on TV was late March of this year!
With this little story in mind, let’s take a deeper look on how social media is discretely replacing the role of our beloved television!
After almost 2 years of rumors about this deal, Yahoo! made a big move last week when it purchased the Arabic portal Maktoob for an estimated $85 million. This is certainly one of the biggest moves in the Middle East’s tech field, and with it Yahoo! has cemented their policy of focusing on emerging markets, and cashing in on the growth of those markets. After establishing presence in Southeast Asia, India and Latin America, Yahoo! now has a foot hold in one of the biggest untapped markets in the world.
The Arab speaking world is composed of about 320 million speakers, of which about 41 million are Internet users. In addition to that, the region has an impressive adoption rate of over a 1,000%. Previously, both Google and MSN took shy steps by establishing a presence in the UAE and Egypt and creating partnerships with local ISP’s and attempting to educate the market about online advertising, but Yahoo! blew their efforts out of the sand.
The Arab market is ripe for picking and, with this move, Yahoo! has taken the lead in that race and will remain there if they are able to cater to the market’s needs. The reality is that only 1% of Internet content is in Arabic, so there is a void and even hunger for Arabic content on the web. Yahoo! hopes to capitalize on this by their purchase of Maktoob, and extending their current portal by making it relevant to Arabic audience.
