Input in Your Style

There are several methods for entering data and typing text into mobile phones. We have moved from normal T9 keyboard entry to voice input methods in small span of times. Perhaps, Samsung was the first mobile manufacturer to introduce voice recognition concept for mobile phone in 2005. Samsung SGH-E620 (for European market) was the first phone, which can make calls using one's voice via a Bluetooth headset. Later, in 2010, Google added voice recognition on Android phones. And now along comes Siri.

Let us know go through most common methods data input in mobile phones:

T9:

T9 stands for text on 9 keys. This is the conventional mobile keyboard, where the alphabets are printed under the keys. A three (for 2 to 6 & 8) and four (7 to 9) letter sequence is printed in each key – ABC under 2, DEF under 3, GHI under 4, JKL under 5, MNO under 6, TUV under 8, PQRS under 7, and WXYZ under 9. Punctuations are printed under 1 and some other special symbols under * and #. You need to press the key multiple times to get result in sequence the letters and symbols are printed under the keys.

Suppose you want to write the word “THE, you need to press 8 one time, 4 two times, and 3 two times.

Predictive text:

Predictive text technology is an input technology where one key or button represents many letters. It allows words to be entered by a single key press for each letter. It combines the groups of letters on each phone key with a fast-access dictionary of words. It looks up in the dictionary for all words corresponding to the sequence of key presses and orders them by frequency of use. The dictionary can be expanded by adding missing words. Suppose you want to enter word “THE”, you just need to press key 8, key 4, and key 3 once.

Predictive text input can be used on other keyboards as well. Related words from dictionary will be displayed as you type.

QWERTY:

QWERTY keyboard for phones refers to arrangement of keys as on standard computer keyboard or typewriter. The name is derived from the first six letters arranged on the keyboard. There is dedicated key for each letters. There are separate numeric keys.

Half QWERTY:

It is a combination of an alpha-numeric keypad and a QWERTY keypad. Half QWERTY is designed especially for mobile phones. In this, two letters share the same key. Q' and 'W' will share the same key. Users need to press the key once to type 'Q' and twice to type 'W'. BlackBerry Pearl 3G features a half QWERTY keyboard.

Touchscreen QWERTY keyboard:

It is a QWERTY keyboard layout that appears on-screen to type or enter data. Other functionalities are same as ordinary keyboard.

Touchscreen T9 keyboard

An on-screen T9keyboard layout appears on-screen to type or enter data. It can be ordinary T9 keyboard or predictive text T9 keyboard.        

Voice input:

Voice command software in phones, allows users to operate through voice. One can dial a number, type text, play music, surf web, and more by giving vocal command to phones. Siri, Vlingo, and Voice2Go are popular voice recognition software.