Sunday, April 6, 2014

TechNow: Microsoft demonstrates the raw speed of WP8.1′s WordFlow keyboard


When Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 8.1 on Wednesday, as it got Build 2014 started, the company touched upon a ton of features and improvements that add up to make WP8.1 the significant upgrade it is. Among those was the new Word Flow keyboard, supporting the sort of gesture typing we first saw popularized with Swype. At the time, Microsoft mentioned how this new keyboard has been used in a record-setting speed typing attempt; if you’re curious to check that out in detail for yourself, the company has just released the video of that action, besting the previous record by a solid two seconds.
Are you going to be able to type quite so fast once you get WP8.1 on your own phone? Well, probably not, and certainly any time you’re picking up a new way to input text on your phone there’s going to be a learning curve, but the important bit to remember is what potential lies here; even if you never manage to come close to these kinds of speeds, the improvements in Windows Phone 8.1 should help give your text input speed a healthy boost.

Curious to conduct your own informal speed trial yourself, with the smartphone platform and keyboard of your choice? The challenge text is “The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack humans.”

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