T9 Touchscreen Techies Zap iPhone on Faster Texting Claims

The video shows data input on a Samsung Omnia II (A Windows Mobile smartphone) alongside an iPhone. The video illustrates the Swype method of typing, which lets the typist 'swipe' their finger between onscreen letters rapidly. This is compared to the more traditional iPhone method in which you navigate between onscreen representations of a traditional QWERTY keyboard and discretely tap individual keys.

The Samsung Omnia II, which will be launched in the US on 2 December, is the first smartphone to utitlise Swype, which was developed by creator of the T9 predictive texting system, popular on many mobile phones today. Swype is due to appear on more Windows Mobile handsets as well as at least one Android-based phone early next year.

'Swype provides a faster and easier way to input text on any screen. With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard, the patented technology enables users to input words faster and easier than other data input methods – at over 50 words per minute,' the Swype website claims. 'The application is designed to work across a variety of devices such as phones, tablets, game consoles, kiosks, televisions, virtual screens and more.'

'A key advantage to Swype is that there is no need to be very accurate, enabling very rapid text entry,' the company claims.

Not everyone who watched the YouTube video was convinced. 'That guy typing on iPhone don't even know double space shortcut so i'm guessing that he's not familiar with iPhone keyboard at all,' complained 'Proz4c'.

'They shut off auto-text on the iPhone... that's just flat out cheating... and do your homework, there literally is "an app for that",' noted RyanCook21.