Tegic Communications announced the launch of a multi-modal user interface
solution for text-enabled cell phones, smartphones and mobile devices.
Tegic, whose T9 predictive text software is installed on 75 percent of all
cell phones manufactured in the United States, has released the T9 Mobile
Suite 1.0, the first multi-modal user interface solution for text-enabled
cell phones, feature-rich smartphones and advanced mobile devices, said the
company.
“This flexible and easy-to-use mobile interface simplifies the user
experience, empowering mobile users to enjoy applications that once seemed
intimidating and difficult to navigate,” Bill Schwebel, president of Tegic Communications, said in a statement.
Tegic is a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online.
The Seattle-based firm said the first generation of the mobile communications
interface seamlessly integrates various text entry options, including
traditional phone keypad, as well as hard and soft QWERTY keyboard and
handwriting recognition capabilities.
The T9 Mobile Suite will make it possible for users to write mobile IMs and e-mails, conduct searches and browse the Web via text, voice or handwritten input, according to Tegic.
Tegic is betting on handset makers’ continued desire for a unified mobile
user interface to help minimize development costs and speed time-to-market
for new cell phones and mobile devices.
“The T9 Mobile Suite makes advanced cell phone applications, such as Web
browsing, messaging and search, not only accessible for consumers, but
achievable,” Schwebel said in the statement.
The interface enables users to switch between input modes, as well as
alternate between numbers, letters, symbols and languages, making it faster
and easier to input text. Some other features of 1.0 include predictive text input and linguistic features such as Smart Punctuation, Handwriting Recognition and Language
Support.