T9 inventor demos new text input method

Cliff Kushler, the inventor of the T9 keyboard technology found in practically every mobile phone with a numeric pad, was at TechCrunch50 this week. There, he demoed a new data entry technology called Swype that is specifically targeted toward touch-screen devices. With just a stylus or a finger, Swype is said to allow data entry of over 50 words per minute via an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. To input a word, all the user has to do is to "connect the letters" in a single swipe. With the help of a built-in 65,000-word dictionary, obvious and creative spelling errors are automatically corrected. Ambiguous selections, if any, are presented in a word menu that pops out. At the moment, the development team is focused on Windows Mobile as well as the tablet version of XP and Vista. It hopes to secure licensing deals with OEMs.

To look at the video of Swype in action:
- check out this CNET News article