Mobile phones have their differences. Each brand and each model is different from the other in functionality and hardware. One major difference in the design is the text input and this difference has a great impact on how the model is used. Users access the internet, SMS, MMS services on their mobile and all these functions depend on the mode of text entry. The following are different text entry modes.
Qwerty
QWERTY is the traditional keyboard entry method in desktops and laptops with one key for every alphabet. Many smart phones these days have these keyboards. Some phones have touch keypad as well as this keyboard too. When the phone is slid or flipped the keyboard is opened when necessary and hidden when unnecessary. In some Smartphones with touch screen also there is QWERTY input with keys on the screen of the phone.
Multi-Tap
This is a standard keypad for entering the text in mobiles. It has twelve keys with 8 for alphabets and the remaining for numerical and symbols. Every key is assigned for 3 or 4 characters. The characters can be selected by pressing a number of times until the desired alphabet appears on the screen.
T9
This is a common text prediction method of entry. It is seen on many phones. This mode increases the speed of texting as it suggests words based on the characters the user enters. Unlike in multi tap with T9 user needs to press only one key for each letter. Depending on the characters which the user enters T9 algorithm predicts the word and the user can select the word that is needed.
iTap
This is developed by Motorola; it is a text entry of predictive type. It proposes words to the users depending on the input the user provides of a minimum of 3 characters according to the use in the past. It also makes use of a glossary to match the input the user entered to similar words and the user can select the desired one from the list offered.
Letterwise
This predictive method of text input is developed by Eatoni. It selects the most probable character depending on the key the user presses. If the apt letter does not come then user can
Scroll he finds the right one. This method of text input reduces the times the keypad is pressed for every letter to get the desired result and so it results in just one time press for every letter.
These are the different types of text entry methods used in the mobile phones of different brands and different models these days.
