n-e-ware restores the joy of text" for smartphones

With the release of Keystick 3 n-e-ware signals the end of the road for keypads on mobile phones

Sydney, Australia (PRWEB) September 4, 2004 -- n-e-ware, the mobile device user interface company today announced the availability of KeyStick 3 for Series 60 smartphones. The new version adds learning as well as improving the intelligence behind the patent pending partial word completion" technology. Also, in response to demands from continental users, KeyStick is now available in German, French, Dutch and Italian.

KeyStick is a text entry system which solves the problems of text entry on small devices such as mobile phones. It does this by intelligently predicting and presenting characters or parts of words for the user to select using a five-way menu driven by the joystick.

The end result is a system which combines the best aspects of predictive text systems with the ease and enjoyment of joystick usage in games. Users find it a relaxed experience, allowing them to enter text rapidly as well as being more inclined to enter grammatically correct and complete text rather than the truncated text usually associated with mobile phone texting due to limitations of the keypad.

More information, a demonstration and a free trial download are available at www.keystick.com

Because Keystick allows all the functions of the keypad to be carried out with just the joystick, it opens up possibilities for a new generation of mobile devices.

Kevin Dinn, the CEO of n-e-ware, explains the motivation for KeyStick: With the advance in phone functions, phone manufacturers are realising that they are no longer making simple phones but multi-functional devices where voice calls are just one of the functions. But all these additional functions such as email, instant messaging and web browsing need improved ways to enter text before they are adopted by the mass market. This is the problem that KeyStick solves."

There have been several design experiments recently which attempt to move on from the traditional keypad. These have generally failed to gain customer acceptance as they do not maintain current levels of usability.

Your mobile phone is now a powerful computer – it should be working hard to cater to your preferred method of input, not the other way round. Our predictive text system allows any user to enter text more rapidly than they can on a traditional phone keypad", Mr Dinn says, and at the same time we actually increase the ease and enjoyment of using the device. This is because the user does not have to constantly flick their gaze between the screen and those tiny buttons to make sure they are hitting the right ones. The thumb stays on the joystick and the eyes stay on the screen the whole time."

KeyStick is a technology that can be applied to any device that has a joystick as part of its interface. Its first commercial implementation is for Series 60 Smartphones such as the Nokia 6600 and Siemens SX1.

n-e-ware describes the reception by Series 60 users of KeyStick as excellent. We dont so much have users as enthusiasts", says Mr Dinn. Our customers just latch onto the system and wont let go. Once you get up to speed with KeyStick it is very hard to go back to doing things the old fashioned way with the keypad."

The enthusiasm of the user community also helped n-e-ware in the creation of version 3 of KeyStick. We have a policy of involving the user community every step of the way in our development. Before releasing version 3 we ran an online survey for customers to suggest and vote on enhancements," says Mr Dinn. The response was excellent and we have incorporated a number of features directly as a result of this feedback."

n-e-ware is in negotiations with device manufacturers to include the system in devices as they are manufactured opening up possibilities for significant changes in form factor. The release for download is just the tip of the iceberg for the potential of this system. Manufacturers can now make devices that de-emphasise or completely remove the keypad. Imagine a wrist sized phone with just a joystick that you could still easily dial numbers on and enter text messages or emails at over 20 words-per-minute", Mr Dinn said.

Consumers with Series 60 phones can purchase KeyStick from www.keystick.com

About n-e-ware
n-e-ware, the mobile device user interface company, is a software house with a focus on next generation mobile technology. Based in Sydney, Australia the n-e-ware team have extensive experience in user interface and software engineering as well as information technology and communications entrepreneurship. Past projects have included global Internet provision services as well as technology for broadband music delivery. KeyStick is its first product in the smartphone domain, several additional products are in development and will be released over the coming months.

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