Android Soft Keyboard & Predictive Text

I waited a long time for the Cupcake update. As well as improving performance, UI tweeks and adding video playback, it introduced a soft keyboard (SKB). No longer would I have to flick open my G1 to email, text or twitter! Word completion and predictive text would make my life easier again!

Did it?

A few weeks on and, to be honest, I’m only just starting to use the SKB more. Like the iPhone, the G1 SKB in portrait takes a bit to get used to and can be tight. The accuracy of keyboard is very good, however it’s the accuracy of my thumbs that’s in doubt. This makes typing slow. The proximity error correction is ok and does help but it doesn’t help enough to stop me from bashing away on the hard keyboard instead.

Auto screen rotation is the Android SKBs saving grace. The keyboard instantly becomes thumb friendly. It takes up just over half the screen but doesn’t look cramped. Even when the predictive text kicks in, there’s still enough room up top to see what you’ve written for a few lines. Additionally, you can switch on haptic feedback. It’s a love it or hate it feature but personally I love it. It’s nice to “feel” a soft key being pressed.

The best thing I like about using the SKB is the predictive text input - my spelling safety net. It’s not the best I’ve seen but for a person who has used predictive text most of their mobile life, it was good to get it back after typing blind for a few months. Suggestions don’t appear till you’ve typed a couple of letters, then a bar pops up on top of the keyboard. Suggestions are generally ok. I guess they’re using the same statistical model that T9 operates with. For longer words it’s easier to type the full word than mess about scrolling right trying to find the word you started typing with it ending in “ed” or “ing”, for example. At best, I think the predictive text is only saving me from typing a few keystrokes here and there.

The SKB hasn’t quite made my life easier. I still flick open the keyboard, particularly if I’m typing a long email or text. Don’t get me wrong, the SKB is great and works well but I think that in wanting a SKB for so long has made me realise, once I had one, that I wouldn’t trade in good old hard keys for anything else.

(In)dispensable Little Things

It is almost impossible not to come across them. For many people they are often rather clever than useful, but once you get hold of these gadgets and gismos you wonder how you ever lived without them. As a hint of what is available in the market here goes a list of new ingenious inventions from Taiwan manufacturers never seize to amaze us.

Can’t wake up? Try this! This is a flying alarm clock with a propeller. When the alarm goes, propeller flies into the air and you can only switch it off if you can find the propeller and put it back on the clock. It Works with 4 AA batteries and costs £ 21.00


If your problem is boredom at work and you need something to keep you awake, this little device can be a solution! You place it behind your ear and by looking at the speed of head movements, determines whether you are falling asleep or not. Once it detects that you are falling asleep, it wakes you up ‘gently’!


Are you interested in the paranormal? Want to see ghosts or 'shadow people'? Are you bored and have got nothing else to do? Now you can create your own shadows! Fill your house with 'shadow people' based upon your own shadow! Disturb your friends by only hanging the screens up at night! Hang the Shadow Magic glow screen on a wall, place something or someone in front of it, fire the strobe flash, and the shadow cast on the screen will linger for 20-40 seconds. Then use the light pen end to add your own highlights and enhancements. The shadow glow screen can be used again and again. (WARNING! If you are doing it yourself, you might need to set up your camera’s flash!) The screen measures 23"W x 28"H, and it costs US$ 20.


If you use RSS, you might like the “rsstroom” reader. It uses wireless connectivity and prints on the toilet paper news from RSS 2.0 and atom feeds. This device is configurable through a web browser and can be set to print an unlimited number of feeds in random or alternative mode.


If you are concern about the environment but still need to recharge your batteries, you might be temped to try the UVEE UVSC-1s Universal Solar Battery Charger. In direct sunlight, Uvee's solar panels convert solar energy into electricity which is automatically saved to its integral Li-ion battery. The charging process takes 4-7 hours for a full charge. When there's no sunlight available simply charge the Uvee with the supplied AC. Uvee's supplied power adaptors can charge a huge range of portable devices including: Mobile phones, PDA’s, iPod’s, digital cameras, satellite Navigation devices, MP3 Players, PSP’s, DS Lite and many other small electrical appliances. This ecologically correct gadget costs £ 24.99.


No, it’s not a modernized LP. Coway designed this dish cleaning-wand to provide you with an easier way to remove dirt and agrochemicals. This device uses megasonic sound waves which induces microcavitation, shaking impurities loose from surfaces and makes it easier for you to clean fruits, meats, dishware, pots and pans and flatware with little or no detergent. The price is not announced yet.