Symbian-Guru - Latest Comments in I Like T9, How About You?

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Erki — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:27:04 -0000

JonnyBruha, yes, I'd like to race!

http://img43.imageshack.us/...

Feel free to post your own results! Take the test at www.iphonetypingtest.com

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Russ — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:31:00 -0000

T9 is the only way to text and still maintain a decent level of safety while driving in my opinion. I've been waiting and waiting for a PDA with a decent sized T9 input, and have yet to find one out there.

Has anyone come across one?

Thanks :-)

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Lee427 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:33:39 -0000

About 12 years ago I got my first mobile phone - a huge Nokia that worked on the now-defunct (sort of) Sprint Spectrum network, which had coverage in maybe 8% of the USA. The phone, amongst the first GSM phones in the U.S., had this new-to-me text messaging feature. I used it only a few times to test it. None of my friends knew how to text (if they had a mobile phone at all). Just as well - I couldn't think of a more absurd way to communicate than by continuously tapping 140 characters into a phone keypad.

My next phone was an analog StarTAC. It couldn't do SMS, but at least it had voice coverage in most places I went (and great sound quality to boot, better than any phone i've had since). My next phone was a digital StarTAC or TimePort with an ahead-of-its-time color OLED display back when everything else was monochrome LCD. It could display four lines of text, but still didn't allow for texting until a firmware update that arrived a year after I bought it (2001 or thereabouts). I rushed to the Verizon Wireless store to get the upgrade, figuring I might use it every few weeks or so. Then I became a texting addict. It wasn't long before I started sending or receiving 100+ texts a week - sometimes a day.

Like seemingly everyone else, I bought a Moto Razr back when they were still the height of phone fashion. It turned out to be an awful phone for texting - the keys are small and poorly distinguished. I swore my next phone would have QWERTY.

I really want an iPhone, but have half a year to go on my VZW contract, so I decided to buy time by buying a used Samsung SCH-u740 (since renamed Alias), which I can switch to until my Verizon contract ends and i can change over to AT&T for the iPhone. The irony is that by the time I bought a QWERTY phone, I had become a whizbang T9er.

There are good and bad QWERTY implementations out there. Most of them are bad. A proper QWERTY keyboard has five rows of keys, but most phones have only four or three rows, and that's where the problems start. The slight offset between the rows is missing from most phone keypads as well, which further complicates typing on them.

My Samsung does have four rows of keys - no top row with numbers, so some of the letters do double duty as number keys. Hold them down for awhile and the number appears. Some of the common symbols, like parentheses, don't have their own key even when shifted. But at least the space bar is in its proper place, below the letters. Some phones, like the LG enV2, do have dedicated number keys, but no lower row for the space bar, so instead there are two small "space" keys where the shift keys normally are. The worst QWERTY keyboards are those with only three rows of keys - often sliders like the LG Rumor and Samsung Glyde - which not only ditch the top row of numbers and symbols, but often put the space bar in the center of the lower row of letter keys, pushing the B, N, and M keys way over to the right to make room for the space key. So the M is directly below the L. This totally messes with me.

Then there's the Palm Centro, which would be great if i could first shrink my fingertips to half their size (and if Palm would update their OS this decade). I'm bugged that the iPhone touchpad keys don't usually work in landscape mode, but at least its auto-correcting-as-you-type works well.

I still like the enV2 setup - it's the best of both worlds - huge outer keypad for dialing and T9, and a great QWERTY keyboard inside, all in a small, lightweight package. I just wish the phone was better.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

devil_kw@hotmail.com — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:17:07 -0000

totally agree and this is a good review of T9 dictionary,
but to my concern is that what does T9 actually means? anyone?

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

danDandan — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:14:13 -0000

I think I've grown content with the T9, I too use it in class, while driving, and while walking... it's easy, one handed, and I know where I am in the 12 key setup... I think it's easier for people on the go...

If I were stuck in a cubicle, or took public transportation I think I would be able to get more done with qwerty, but... if I tried to do the driving and walking and typing, i wouldn't be alive right now ;)

But, I've never really tried... maybe i can get used to it...

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Another Stefan — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:16:18 -0000

One doesn't have to be a SMS addict to lean T9. It's probably enough to make several calendar entries a day with it on the phone for a longer period of time. That's how I will get used to it with my new phone as a phone call is easier and often cheaper than sending a SMS for me.

If one feels comfortable with typing lots of text on a phone is surely also heavily depending on the feeling of the keyboard hardware. I wouldn't want to type longer texts on the K700i's keyboard (feels far too hard to me and key spacing is not big enough), while with the N82 the feeling is far better. That's why I intend to mostly replace my PDA with the N82 now and also learn T9.

One thing I miss on S60 3rd FP1 is being able to edit the list of words I added to T9 in order to correct it or remove now unused words. That's the thing that was IMHO better in the T9 implementation on my previous phone (the K700i).

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Steve — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:54:17 -0000

I think the onlyu way to learn T9 is to be a SMS addict. Kinda leaves me out then :-)

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

John — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:00:37 -0000

Personally, I think neither is ideal. You're right about the limits of existing Qwerty phone/MID keyboards. The main problem with my N810, though, is that the keys are too stiff, and not enough tacticle feedback when you hit a key. In general, there's just not enough standardization of symbolic layout.

But T9 isn't perfect. On my Samsung SCH-R410, there are some symbols that aren't available _AT_ALL_ via T9. I have to open up the keyboard in order to type them. And, you only have one key (#1) for symbols, making it annoying to try to type some less frequent symbols.

Overall, though, I think the best choice is what Samsung did with the R410 -- both a qwerty and a T9 keypad. There are some things I'd improve about that phone, but the keyboard/keypad layout isn't one of them.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Dotsisx — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:35:13 -0000

No Adam, sure-type still isn't used on Symbian phones, though I am thinking now that it should be very similar to the P1i and the M600 UIQ keyboard layout, but those use two directions of the same key, whereas sure-type uses more of a t9 like predictive input and letter cycling.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Adam Lein — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:11:35 -0000

My comment about the 20 key sure-type keyboard didn't come through, huh?
T9 is okay for one handed typing. Qwerty is great for 2 thumbed typing. But the 20 key sure-type hybrid keyboard is like the best of both worlds. You'll see that on the T-Mobile Shadow, HTC Touch Dual, and Blackberry Pearl devices. It's like T9 except with 2 letters per button instead of 3 and the letters are in a more familiar Qwerty layout as opposed to alphabetical. It makes one-handed typing easier to learn with only 8 more buttons to memorize than T9... it increases predictive accuracy since there are less letter/word combination possibilities... and you can also use two thumbs for much faster input. Do any Symbian phones use this type of keyboard yet?

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

iberico — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:17:11 -0000

Hi, Hi, Hi,

you need to teach your phone words ha ha ha, talking about the learning curve. I own a treo and I'll bet you with everything I have me and the entire city I'll beat you hands on on any application blindfolded or not.

That's a good one for owners of htc touch dual where you cannot disable the bloody T9.

Godspeed

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Dotsisx — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:13:43 -0000

What's that application running on your device, Jonny?

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Jamal — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:37:43 -0000

Sorry to say but I managed to reach reason 1 and then disagreed and came down here to reply.

You cannot absolutely cannot use T9 blindfolded. T9 has this weird tendency to have words come up in a different order when you type them depending on usage frequency. It has led to many a typo and I would just lke it if the words always remained in the same place. I mean I can press * thrice no problem but a different number every time?! @&#^@*@#^ !! Better yet let me define the order in which the words appear leading to a complete win.

Thanks for reading.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

JonnyBruha — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:14:28 -0000

T9 FTW

Anyone wanna race?

http://farm3.static.flickr....

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Jooseppi — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:11:24 -0000

That is simply silly reasoning. By the time you've taught your T9 phone a new word, I've sent the whole message with qwerty and moved on to kissing with my girl.

In order to fully express yourself verbally, using wordplay and so on, you really have to use qwerty. T9 limits the personal touch of your output. Period.

Yeah yeah, you can always teach the T9, but that's a huge waste of time which you will face time and time again. Subconsciously you will limit your output to fit with the shortcomings of T9.

Qwerty - even when using just two thumbs - will always win T9 in speed.

You say it's a bliss to have only 12 buttons and therefore it being easier to memorize many symbol character. Well how about when you switch from one phone brand to another? Symbols wont reside where they used to. On qwerty the most common symbols will in most cases reside in the same location (alternate characters in the number keys).

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

thatbronxboy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:57:39 -0000

The funny part is i would use my girlfriend blackjack and would type slower than using my n93-3 T9 am i the only one lol

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Edex — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:57:59 -0000

Deffinatly qwerty.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Prosenjitz — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:03:58 -0000

Hi ! This is Prosenjitz here. For the part couple of years I use my 12 key cellphone as my true laptop substitute, as far as possible; for drafting long official letters, emailing, taking notes, web browsing, organising my busy and packed schedules and other office related tasks. T9 proved to be quite capable instrument for all these jobs. Even this post is also typed with T9 of my mobile.
T9 helps to check spelling also in an indirect way. If wrong spelling is typed it refuses to provide word, thus makes aware of the mistake. And when there is confusion with the the right spelling, by typing alternatives right spelling can be checked.
But this useful software needs upgrading now. Spell-check and auto-suggestion of words will be very welcome feature.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

krazzy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:08:04 -0000

Yeah I'm a full time T9 user as well. Heck, I can type faster on my T9 enabled phone than I can on my laptops QWERTY keyboard. Even this reply has being typed from a cell phone running Opera Mini. I'm using T9 for so long I can even type in my sleep now! Plus unlike others who resort to crappy sms language like "hw r u doin?" etc., I insist on using a proper text that won't give my readers a headache. And the convenience of T9 makes this possible.

I've discovered that T9 in Nokia phones and SE phones is very different. In Nokia we can just press * once to move through different matching words or press # twice to activate/deactivate T9. But SE phones insist you to press and hold * to activate/deactivate T9, which is much slower and it displays an on screen list to help scrolling through matching words. This isn't very nice. However SE does remember your frequently used words (quite unreliable sometimes). You can even save words with numbers in the dictionary memory (like say mp3), unlike Nokia.

Still I'd say Nokia's system is better. Its much faster and more intuitive. Infact Nokia's text entry system is the best among all cell phone manufacturers. Period.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Devin Balentina — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:13:53 -0000

True, everybody wants QWERTY nowadays forgetting how good T9 can be, as long as your language is supported.
For this reason I think the best solution is a triple slider phone: normal keypad (with T9), media keys and slide-out QWERTY from the site. I guess a bit for everyone.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Mostafa — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:30:43 -0000

Well, sure T9 is my favourite in any normal keypaded phones, which are the majority. But I prefer QWERTY, it make me more productive, and of course I like E61i form more. In fact I can't go back to non-QWERTY phones. But, how can you type Arabic words in latin letters using T9, the dictionary will not expect certainly...

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Wouter — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:05:06 -0000

I think every new mobile phone has a learning curve... because it is new. I agree with you on the mobility problem; I had a Nokia E90 till a few months ago, but I swapped this for a Nokia E51, because I was tired of the big brick in my pocket. But still T9 is much better than the old typing method, but your "learning curve reason" is quite subjective.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Jake — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:59:53 -0000

I can't Live without QWERTY!!

I have tried out all the currently available Nseries phones and I CANNOT buy any of them because they don't have QWERTY.
I am still living with my E61 which I am more than ready to change for something newer buy NOKIA IS NOT RELEASING THE RUMORED E71 nor the Nseries QWERTY!

I understand that for you maybe you're used to the T9 but as for me and most of us who went for the E61 we feel forgotten by Nokia because they haven't released a QWERTY model since E61i which itself was a disappointment for people like me who want the latest software. I find the situation a bit ironical: Nokia introduced me to mobile QWERTY with the E61 but now I'm thinking of switching away because Nokia has forgotten that I've come to understand that I can't live with the slow speeds of 12-keys.

I want to tell Nokia: release a QWERTY phone or you might lose a customer pretty soon. You introduced me to mobile QWERTY but then you forgot about me.

-Long time Nokia faithful

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Prosenjitz — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:24:56 -0000

Hi, this is Prosenjitz here. For the last couple of years I am an all-round user of T9. As most of time I remain away from my laptop/computers, I use T9 to do all my typing job, including taking long notes, writing long official letters and emails etc, with no problem at all! The addition for qwerty(actually it's an apology for a keyboard!) makes a cellphone uncomfortable for one-hand use.
Moreover, active T9 indirectly does the spell-checking also. Whenever a word is typed wrongly-spelt, T9 intervens and doesn't allow such wrong spelling.
But still, this extremely useful software needs upgrading. Spell-check and automatic advance word suggestion should be very welcome features.

Re: I Like T9, How About You?

Aashish — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:04:31 -0000

I do agree. I am much more comfortable with T9 when it comes to mobile devices. Sure, QWERTY keyboards are fast, but for me they are fast only when the keyboard is resting on a desk and I am using multiple fingers, not when its in my hand and I am using my thumb. For my thumbs, T9 is much faster.

I just have one complain with T9. On my nseries device, over a period of time, it automatically changes the suggested word when I key in a combination of keys, something that I do not want in many cases (e.g. for some reason 'much' comes as 'ouch' when i type it. I have no idea why). But I guess this is something very small and is part of nothing been perfect.