Predictive Texting Goes Further
An interesting look at the evolution of predictive texting. Starting with just having to tap multiple keys to get to each letter (my old phone still requires this) on to the more popular T9 (and a few competitors) which most people use nowadays. If you don’t use T9 or some other predictive texting system, it tries to figure out the most likely word you’re trying to type from the key combination. In other words, instead of pressing 7 four times to get to “s”, you just press it once, and by the end of the word, it tries to guess what the most likely combination of those letters results in (with different options if it’s wrong). However, the next stage in predictive texting is trying to figure out what the next word is. So, if you type “see you later” often, once you’ve written “see” the system prompts you to ask if you want “you” next. Sounds like it could be useful. Of course, there are those like Digit Wireless who believe that it’s better to just add a complete keyboard to your phone (in between the phone buttons) to make typing easier.
