Microsoft’s Keyboard Prototype For Android Wear Looks Promising

If you own a smartwatch you know how frustrating it can be to try and type on the miniature keyboard that is on the small display. Surprisingly Microsoft might have solved this problem with their Analog keyboard prototype for Android wear.

Analog Keyboard for Android Wear

The research division of Microsoft has built an analog keyboard prototype for Android Wear that allows you to write out letters rather than trying to tap them. The best part of this is that you get to use the full screen of your smartwatch, rather than trying to peck at really small letters on the miniature keyboard. Some may think that writing out the letters might actually take more time, but checking out the video below it seems like this could be promising.

“Handwriting, unlike speech, is discreet and not prone to background noise. And unlike soft keyboards, where many keys have to share the small touch surface, handwriting methods can offer the entire screen (or most of it) for each symbol,” Microsoft explains. “This allows each letter to be entered rather comfortably, even on small devices. In fact, it has been shown that some handwriting systems can be used without even looking at the screen. Finally, handwriting interfaces require very little design changes to run on round displays, which are becoming increasingly popular.”

Analog Keyboard for Android Wear

Currently still in prototype phase, Microsoft is making the software publicly available to receive feedback from real-world users and scenarios. It is free and should work with any Android Wear application that uses text input. You will need to side-load the software using ADB (Android Debut Bridge) though.

Source: Microsoft | News Archive

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