ThickButtons Launches Accurate, Convenient Typing for Touchscreen Phones

DESERT SPRINGS, Calif., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ThickButtons announces a smarter, easier and more accurate way to type on your touchscreen phone:  introducing ThickButtons 0.6, an application available for free download on Android phones. ThickButtons improves ease and accuracy on the touchscreen by shrinking the letters that are not likely to be used and enlarging the buttons that are.  

See the ThickButtons demo first-hand at http://www.thickbuttons.com.

While the underlying science and algorithms are complicated, the interface is simple:  unlike most dictionary-based prediction technologies that guess the full word during the typing process, ThickButtons finds it much easier to predict the letters unlikely to be used and make them smaller, leaving the rest of the text more accessible. With ThickButtons technology, the size of a phone screen is less of an issue because the buttons are enlarged.

"ThickButtons simplifies the way we type on our touchscreen smartphones," said Dimitri Lisitski, co-founder of ThickButtons. "Recent studies have documented a spiking demand for touchscreen smartphones – and correspondingly, people have been typing a lot more – with some frustrating and hilarious results. Dictionary-based technologies often can't keep up with names, slang and vernacular.  Our technology simply approaches the same problem from a different angle. With ThickButtons, we are helping to eliminate the frustration of misspelled, mistyped, and misuse of text, ultimately improving communication."

Main Benefits:

No Change in Typing Habits: ThickButtons does not ask users to change their typing behaviors by learning a new way to type. Some of the recent predictive typing technologies in the industry include training steps and involve a learning curve before users become familiar with the process. With ThickButtons, just type the same way you have all your life.  

Less Dependent on Dictionary: Traditional prediction-based technologies are effective only when a significant part of the word is entered. ThickButtons is unique because it begins working after just a few letters are entered. Less relevant buttons shrink and the buttons more likely to be used become larger. In some cases there is no dependency on the dictionary at all. For example, if a user presses backspace, three adjacent keys are enlarged offering a workaround for the most common mistakes.

Easy to Type Even on Small Screens: ThickButtons technology accommodates users of smartphones with small screens. No matter the size of a screen, ThickButtons becomes large enough for people to still use their fingers to type, eliminating the need for a stylus.

ThickButtons version 0.6 for Android is now available for free download at the Android Market, http://www.thickbuttons.com or to download on your phone visit market://search?q=pname:com.thickbuttons. A version for Windows Mobile 7 is currently under development. ThickButtons has also created an open community for users to share their typing experience with ThickButtons' developers, to ask questions and to suggest features. The team promises to actively participate with the community and to develop the most demanded features first. The community is available at http://community.thickbuttons.com.

About ThickButtons

Founded in November 2008, ThickButtons introduces a technology that makes text input on touchscreen smartphones, even small ones, easy, convenient and accurate. ThickButtons' technology is based on the premise that it's much easier to predict which letters are unlikely to be used than to guess the full word, as other prediction technologies do. ThickButtons then shrinks the less-used letters out of the way, which leaves room to enlarge the letters a user needs. Input is easy, with no need to learn a new typing method. ThickButtons is less dependent on dictionary input than other predictive technologies, and therefore learns new words like slang and Instant Message or SMS acronyms quickly. The Android version of ThickButtons will be available on Android Market (market://search?q=pname:com.thickbuttons) and select websites in March 2010, with Windows Mobile 7 coming later. The company is self-funded and has 6 employees in Silicon Valley and Ukraine. For more information please visit www.thickbuttons.com.

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SOURCE ThickButtons