In Review: Swype

If there is anything that made me feel more comfortable about using touchscreen phones other than capacitive screen technology, it is this piece of software called Swype. Introduced in 2008 back when resistive touchscreen is still pretty popular, Swype has not received greater acceptance until 2010 when they have released more beta samples to more users and after making Swype usable by Android and lately Symbian users.

The concept of Swype is pretty simple, instead of tYPE-ing, you SWipe across the keyboard (ergo SWYPE). Like in the screenshot above, I spelled the word "money." I start on the letter m, then slide to o, then n, e, then y.

Advantages:

* Very comfortable to use with one hand on portrait mode

* Eerily accurate

* Can remember words outside of the user dictionary

Disadvantages:

* May prioritize non-dictionary words over dictionary words

* Gets confused with short words (confuses is and us, live and love, our and or, etc) which you may find annoying in the long run

* On higher versions, imports phonebook names as dictionary words and prioritizes them (there's no response from the Swype team yet)

* Still on beta mode, higher versions does not install on unsigned devices and not available for free or paid--user has to be beta-listed by the Swype team

* May feel uncomfortable on larger screens due to wider spacing when on Landscape mode

* Typing words for the first time so Swype can remember them can be a pain.

Personal Opinion:

In my two months' use of Swype, I can say that switching back to normal keyboard + auto correct has been uncomfortable. I have been dependent on Swype for most of my handheld typing. In fact, after a week's use, I scrapped any plan of getting an iPhone 4 because Swype is not yet available for it. Even on my laptop, I sometimes wish there's a technology similar for it.

Drivers will love Swype as they can type with one hand while driving with very little effort. It can be eerily accurate to the point that you won't need to check whether you are swyping the right words or not.

Now for the downsides, I have mentioned how annoying it is that Swype remembers and prioritizes the names on your phonebook. For instance, I have a contact with a surname of ONG, when I swype "OMG" the choice window pops out and gives me the choices with Ong over Omg. Sometimes it goes straight to thinking I meant Ong. And I find this terribly annoying. I have looked up on the Internet and apparently, there is no solution for it yet only workarounds.

Also, since you will be Swyping with your thumb, you will most likely end up with a sore thumb if you do this often.

Overall, I still feel that Swype does more good than harm and is game-changing.

Score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy S General Impressions

After two weeks of heavy use and scrutiny on the Galaxy S (a week on 2.1 and another on 2.2), I have collected my likes and dislikes for this phone. On paper, this phone beats my X10 almost spec-per-spec (multitouch, 16M colors, S-AMOLED screen, 512MB RAM), but on practice, there’s a different story going on. Read on for the preview of the clash of the beauties.

Likes

• Best in class 4” S-AMOLED screen
• Useful pre-loaded apps: Task Manager, Office Editor, Swype, Aldiko eBook, File Manager, Asphalt 5, Mini Diary, etc.
• Special mention to the capable de facto Video Player and Music Player
• Access to updateable Swype text input
• Access to Android Market Apps and Samsung Apps (which includes Dictionary, Vlingo, etc)
• Fast loading 5 MP camera
• Front-facing VGA camera for video calls on Swype and YM
• Access to Froyo (2.2) and Gingerbread in the future
• Nice integration of phonebook and social network accounts
• Access to beautiful live wallpapers—some Samsung made
• Workarounds if you don't like the stock solutions
• FM radio
• Feels good in hand
• Sliding door USB hatch
• Loudspeaker really loud
• Fast operation after lagfix

Dislikes

• 16M color screen still dithers
• Greenish tint on the S-AMOLED display
• Laggy performance before lag fix, occasional hiccups occur
• Video player skips, same with music player
• TouchWiz UI does not really add value
• Samsung widgets can’t be used on custom homescreens (LauncherPro, etc)
• UI uses too many big fonts which results in less info being displayed at a time and a low-res looking device
• Very generic body design, no premium look at all, makes the phone feel cheap
• Plastic is a fingerprint magnet
• 5MP camera is not very good, especially at low-lit environment since it does not have a flash
• Back and menu soft key may hamper an otherwise good user experience
• Freezes and hangs occasionally
• Audio reproduction feels too clunky
• Suspect buggy software

Galaxy S over X10

• Android 2.2 and possible access to 2.3
• S-AMOLED display
• FM radio
• Faster operation after lagfix, though suffers occasional hiccups
• Dozens of supported video and audio codecs makes it the perfect pocket theatre
• Updateable official Swype
• Better out-of-the-box apps & content (notification tones)
• Multitouch support
• Better voice calls without headset
• Overall better internet experience because of Flash lite and multitouch support
• 512 MB RAM is more than X10’s 384MB

X10 over Galaxy S

• Less dithering amidst 65K color limit
• Little to no ergonomics issue because of the hardware buttons used
• Classier looking
• More stable, rarely freezes, hangs and restarts on its own
• Better out of the box experience (little to no modification required)
• More usable and classy UI
• Better audio reproduction
• Better camera and video

So it’s blazing speed versus stability here, with Galaxy S and X10 picking one trait over the other. I can’t help but fall in love with S-AMOLED and some more fluidity offered by SGS on Froyo. Then again, the going gets rough when the pretty thing hiccups, and that destroys the fun. I can’t also help but be enchanted with X10’s good looks and fluid UI overlay, which in turn does not perform well on videos and still serves a soon-to-be-moldy Éclair which does not do justice for the intensive apps (cough Timescape cough) it runs.