Every time you hit the “r” instead of the “t,” and accidentally type “thsnks” instead of “thanks,” you probably wonder why someone isn’t working on a better solution for entering text on a mobile phone?
Well, actually, someone is. Swype has been quietly trying to fine-tune the keyboard for seven years. And while they aren’t alone, and many companies likely believe their solution is better, Swype may just have the pedigree to pull it off.
The Seattle-based company was co-founded by Cliff Kushler, who previously worked at Tegic Communications. There, Kushler developed T9, the predictive text software that you may know fondly from your first Nokia (NYSE: NOK) flip-phone. Instead of triple-tapping a text message, you pressed each key once and the software guessed what you were spelling out. It has been installed on three billion mobile phones around the world. T9 is now owned by Nuance, which bought it from AOL (NYSE: TWX).
With touchscreens becoming more pervasive, and typing a common complaint with the iPhone and other devices, this is potentially one of the biggest obstacles to devices getting even smaller.
The idea for Swype was hatched in 2002 by Kushler and co-founder Randy Marsden, who developed the onscreen keyboard included in Windows. The company has secured five patents, and today has about 15 employees, who work out of a small office above a coffee shop and natural food store in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Last year, Mike McSherry, who was the co-founder of both Amp’d Mobile and Boost Mobile, joined the company as CEO. It raised $1.3 million in March and just closed on another $400,000.
Here’s how Swype’s keyboard works: The users holds down their finger and drag it from one letter to the next until they’ve spelled out a word. It’s surprisingly forgiving, so if you just barely miss one of the letters, it will probably still recognize it. If it’s an unusual word, or a name, the user can easily tap it out the traditional way and add it into the dictionary. There’s also a series of gestures that a person has to learn. For instance, if you want to capitalize a letter, you drag your finger above the keyboard and back down again (in an upside “v” pattern). To draw two of the same letters in a row, you squiggle a line over the same letter before moving on to the next. In practice, you can start to see patterns that a particular word might make. For instance, to spell “quick,” it looks like Zorro’s Z. Start your finger in the far left corner with “q” and then trace through the “u” and “i,” before swiping diagonally back to the “c” and then crossing back over again to the “k.”
So far, the company has yet to sign any commercial agreements, but McSherry says it is in talks with all the major handset makers and “expects to sign contracts with OEMs shortly.” Swype has one very lofty goal: “ubiquity.” He said that means being the default text input on all devices, ranging from phones to tablets, TVs and other surfaces. Since Swype requires some practice, it will take awhile before consumers master it en masse. But that’s also what happened with T9. Texting was a pain, and although the software required some explanation, millions learned it and quickly passed it along through word of mouth.

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