Phone brands in talks to throw away keyboards?

Snapkeys wants to do away with keys
Snapkeys wants to do away with keys

Virtual keyboard developer Snapkeys is in talks with a number of large manufacturers and networks over using a radically different keyboard system on future phones.

The Snapkeys 2i works by working out what a user is writing by combining known keystrokes for common words with simply accurately working out which part of the keyboard was intended to be hit - like touch typing, but apparently with less mistakes.

Yoni Mozeson, marketing manager for Snapkeys, told TechRadar that his company thinks keyboards take up too much room on the screen and don't even need to be there:

"Other systems like Swype or similar don't solve the basic problem: the keyboard takes up too much space and doesn't need to be there."

No learning curve

"We're doing quality tests [with our tech] at the moment, and found people can type quickly and accurately. There's no learning curve to be overcome.

"We're in talks with nearly every major network and manufacturer [to use our technology] and we hope to have some announcements very soon."

While Mozeson wouldn't be drawn on the names of the companies, he did state that it could have further reaching functions, such as in gaming or on other areas like a fax machine or photocopier, where space is at a premium.

We'll be testing this out in the near future to see if it really is as accurate as claimed - could Apple's iPhone Nano come without a keyboard?

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.

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