New KALQ keyboard layout for touchscreen devices: 34% faster than QWERTY

KALQ layout

Texting got a lot easier! Researchers have developed a new keyboard for touch-screen phones that gives super-fast thumb-typing, that enables users to type 34 percent faster than a QWERTY keyboard.

The team of researchers is said to hav used computational optimization techniques with a model of thumb movement to filter among millions of layout combinations to identify the one that gives superior performance.

Typing on today's smartphones and tablets seems to be slow. since QWERTY layout is not much suitable for tablets and other touch-screen devices when typing with thumbs, researchers said. Thumb typing is very different from typing on a keyboard.

Researchers said that normal users using a QWERTY layout on a touch-screen device is able to type at a rate of 20 words per minute, which is slow compared to the rate achieved on physical keyboards.

The researchers from the "Max Planck Institute for Informatics" and colleagues from the "University of St Andrews and Montana Tech" initiated the process of developing a layout for two-thumb texting with the goal of improving typing performance and reducing the strain for the thumbs.

"The key to optimising a keyboard for two thumbs is to minimize long sequences with a single thumb," lead researcher Antti Oulasvirta said.

"We also want to place frequently used letters centrally close to each other. Experienced typists move their thumbs simultaneously: While one is typing, the other is approaching its next target. We

derived a predictive model of this behaviour for the optimisation method," said Oulasvirta.

The researchers had two goals: To minimise the movement of thumbs and to approximate alternating sides as well.

The new keyboard layout "KALQ" has all vowels with the exception of letter "y" in the area for the right thumb, whereas more other keys are assigned to left thumb.

With this new KALQ layout improvements, users will be able to type 37 words per minute, which is reported as the best rate for two-thumb typing on touchscreen devices. Researchers said KALQ layout will be made available in play store as a free app for Android-based smartphones at the month of May.

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HTC E1 introduces PC style customization to the smartphone world

HTC started shipping its E1 smartphone in China. HTC is offering this smartphone as an affordable dual-SIM smartphone and the specification can be customized.

The user can choose to have either a 8GB or 16GB as internal memory for the smartphone. Also, you can choose this HTC E1 either with a 5-megapixel rear camera or an 8-megapixel one. Lastly, it offers six color options available for the back panel and you can pick the one that suits the best for you.

As per Engadget, HTC made a partnership with a micro-blogging site Sina Webio for suggesting the custom specifications for this HTC E1 smartphone. HTC and Sina offers suggestions on customizing the specifications of HTC E1 based on your zodiac and gender.

For example, if your zodiac sign is Virgo, the site recommends a 8GB internal memory that comes with an 8-megapixel camera. Also, it recommends for a "Lolita White" color for a Virgo.

Though HTC E1 doesn't offer much customization option, this seems to be a interesting marketing initiative and this may catch with other smartphone manufacturers as well.

The other specifications of HTC E1 are,

• - 4.3 - inch Super LCD2 WVGA display
• - 1.15GHz Dual-core processor
• - 1GB of RAM
• - Beats Audio Sound
• - 2-megapixel Front Camera
• - Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
• - HTC Sense 4.0+ UI 
• - Dual-SIM (WCDMA + GSM)
• - Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
• - Bluetooth 4.0
• - External Storage up to 32GB (microSD card)

As per HTC's China website, HTC E1 costs between 1,699 Chinese yuan (approximately Rs. 14,800) to 1,899 yuan (Rs. 16,500) based on the customization. HTC had officially launched HTC E1 in China about a month ago. As of now, there is no word on whether HTC will be making its HTC E1 available in other markets and whether it will be offering similar set of customization in these markets as well.

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HP bundles Leap Motion: 3D motion controllers for HP's future products

HP will be using Leap Motion's motion control technology in some of its upcoming products, confirmed by both companies this Tuesday.

Selected PCs from HP with Leap Motion's technology will be available in stores this summer, Cherie Britt, HP spokesperson told. Devices embedded with Leap Motion Controller technology will come later.

"At HP, it's all about delivering incredible user experiences," Britt said. "Leap Motion's groundbreaking 3D motion control, combined with HP technology and amazing developer apps, will create incredible user experiences."

HP will be the second major OEM to work with Leap. ASUS made an announcement in January that it will bundle Leap Motion Controllers with its premium All-in-One PCs and high-end notebooks later this year.

"We're still working with ASUS," Michael Buckwald, CEO of Leap Motion, told. The company is also working with "a number of" major OEMs, but HP "is the first OEM to announce plans to embed Leap Motion's technology into unique devices."

About Leap's Technology

The Leap Motion Controller has a 150 degree space of view, it can be able to track all of a user's fingers at a rate of 250 frames per second. The touch-free technology used in this controller uses sensors rather than using VGA cameras to detect motion, synthesizes the information from that sensor data and displays the result.

The technology can track movements smaller than the head of a pin, the company said.

Leap Motion has opened up its application programming interface (API) to developers.

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