Swype talked to Apple over its keyboard tech

Swype teaser 001

Swype virtual keyboard technology is pretty popular on Android devices, and it’s easy to see why. With error-correction algorithms and a powerful language model to guess the intended word, Swype lets you enter words by sliding a finger from the first letter of a word to its last letter, lifting only between words.

While Swype’s owner Nuance partners with Apple on the voice recognition technology powering Siri, the iPhone maker never implemented the Swype input method on iOS devices, instead choosing to advance its own intelligent virtual keyboard technology. That said, it’s interesting that Swype and Apple have had discussions concerning the feature…

According to a Reddit AMA with Nuance’s Vice President of the Swype division Aaron Sheedy , his company has had talks with Apple. Responding to a question about Apple’s potential interest in Swype technology, Sheedy responded:

Hah. The million (ok billion) $ questions. Yes, we have chatted with them, they are very smart and nice.

That’s far from an official confirmation of any interest Apple may have in Swype, but the very fact that the company bothered to sit down with the Swype team is an indication of Apple exploring its options.

Nuance recently released the downloadable Swype keyboard on Google’s Play Store.

From YouTube release notes:

Why type when you can Swype? Swype replaces the on-screen keyboard for smartphones and tablets, and with one continuous motion across the screen, its patented technology enables users to input words faster and easier.

If you’re jailbroken, you can get Swype-like functionality by installing such tweaks as TouchPal. There’s also an unofficial iOS port of Swype beta available.

Of course, Google with the release of Android Jelly Bean introduced a similar in-built input method called Gesture Typing. Swype keyboard comes preloaded on certain Android devices, including Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphone series.