Swype Gestures, Personal Dictionary Management, and Swype Connect come Fresh in New Beta Version of Virtual Keyboard App

Swype has released a new beta version to a select portion of its users for testing before it’s released to the general public. The new version will come with several new features.

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Swype Gestures and Personal Dictionary Management are two of the new features being previewed in this beta. Gestures gives users quick access to some of the most common tasks on the phone, such as editing (cut/copy/paste/select all), tweeting and maps (highlight text and send it straight to Twitter/Google Maps/Facebook). Personal Dictionary Management lets users manage the words that they add to their Swype dictionary directly through the settings menu.
Swype Connect, another new features being introduced, allows the company to verify the license of each version of Swype without using a separate installer, and lets it gather statistics about how users interact with the app, so it can continue to improve its accuracy. Swype Connect will bring increased license stability, improved accuracy, and opens the door for additional new features in the future, according to the company.

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Microsoft Applies For Patents on Multi-touch/Multi-screen Gestures – Should Android Worry?

Some patents Microsoft applied for back in February of ’10 have recently gone public thanks to MicrosoftNews. So, why is Microsoft news on an Android site? Well, kids — if granted, these patents could pose a significant threat to our beloved Android OS and her OEM’s. Let’s take a look at Microsoft is trying to claim as “theirs”  (brace yourself).
Off-Screen Gestures to Create On-Screen Input

The patent provides for single-touch gestures, multi-finger same-hand gestures, and multi-finger different-hand gestures, all of which can operate along the bezel moving from the inside-out, or the outside-in. And if you take a close look at the pic, you also see mention of bezel gestures that display a drop-down menu ala Android. Immediately when I think of bezel gestures the BlackBerry PlayBook comes to mind. RIM better watch out.
Multi-finger Gestures

Bezel gestures seems to be big with Microsoft. This one particular deals with multi-finger gestures associated with an exposable drawer. These gestures can also be used on a device with multiple screens.
Multi-screen Pinch and Expand Gestures

This is pretty much your standard multi-touch “pinch-to-zoom function but bundled with multi-screen compatibility.
Multi-screen Hold and Tap Gesture

Last on the list is Microsoft’s “hold and tap” patent. Again, this is for interacting with apps via split-screen. This is a lot like long pressing an icon or widget in Android but in this case you would hold an object on one screen (left) and tapping a second object on the the opposite screen will move the object to the screen where you tapped. Basically, it’s kinda like copying the object your holding onto the opposite screen.
What do you guys think of these exposed patents? Some of this stuff actually sounds pretty neat and I would love to see it incorporated into some dual-screen Android tablets. For instance, Sony’s upcoming S2 tablet could benefit greatly from some of these gestures. Of course, if Microsoft gets their way, Android manufacturers may have their hands tied when it come to interacting with your Android tablet.

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