iPhone SDK

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panamajack

举人
Re: iPhone SDK - handwriting recognition

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/28/appl ... he-iphone/

Apple looking to put handwriting recognition into the iPhone?
Posted Mar 28th 2008 11:52PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

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Requisition Number 3432965
Job title Handwriting Recognition Engineer
Location Santa Clara Valley
Country United States
City Cupertino
State/Province California
Job type Full Time
Job description The Handwriting Recognition team is seeking an engineer who will be responsible for advancing Apple's handwriting recognition technology for Mac OS X. The ideal candidate will be an expert in the area of pattern recognition, with an excellent understanding of handwriting recognition issues. The person will also assume primary responsibility for maintaining and enhancing existing code and tools. The recognition technology you create may extend beyond Mac OS X to other applications and the iPhone.
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We know Apple's had its Inkwell handwriting recognition software in OS X for years now, so we might have otherwise just totally glossed over this Handwriting Recognition Engineer job listing on Apple's site. Except for the part that reads: "The recognition technology you create may extend beyond Mac OS X to other applications and the iPhone." They always love to throw those little tidbits in there, don't they?
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
This is a bit puzzling, actually - from our experiments at least, it's certainly possible to write clearly on an iPhone's screen with a fingertip, even with complicated Chinese characters, but it's a lot slower than using a pen and is uncomfortable for more than a few characters at a time.

I suspect Apple will eventually break down and release an official iPhone stylus accessory, though, if for no other reason than to finally support copy-and-paste - since this would be a large, capacitive stylus they could even include a button or two on the grip (like a graphic tablet), which would enable all sorts of interesting new functionality. And maybe also pressure sensitivity, which if combined with a larger 5-inch-screen iPhone model would be an absolute joy for graphic artists and others who wanted a way to whip up a quick sketch of something on-the-go.
 
T

transparent

Member
I'm surprised nobody has discussed the new handwriting recognition input method that came out earlier this week yet!

It looks like a beta of HanWang's HWPen engine. Works pretty well on my iPod Touch too-- can even write two character phrases.

http://iphonecake.com/soft/hwpen-汉王手写

Cannot wait for Pleco on the iPhone/iPod Touch!
 
garysaville

garysaville

进士
I have been using that Character input program in the iPods notes function for a week or so. I just installed the update for it and it bricked my iPod touch. I'm doing a full reset on it at the moment. The first beta ran fine for me, however it wasn't very useful as it only offered simplified characters.
Anyway, I'd hold off on installing that until you check a few more forums. I don't know if it was just bad luck for me, or a real bad bug in the update.


GaryS
 
garysaville

garysaville

进士
Mike,
Is it possible to get a rough guess as to when a version will be released for the iPhone? I've been Pleco-less for the past two months because my TX suddenly died. I really don't want to get any other smart phone or PDA, but I might break down and get a Palm680 if you think it is going to be a long time after the release of 2.0


Thanks

Gary
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Sorry, but I'm really going to be firm about the no-release-date policy this time; I've gotten into enough trouble with missed estimates for 2.0, and that's for a platform we've actually developed software for before. So there likely won't be any word about the schedule for the iPhone version (or even whether or not we've actually started developing one) until we're a few weeks away from releasing it.
 
R

renovator

榜眼
Oh come on Mike, just give us a guess on a release date for the I-Phone. Any of us that deal seriously with China know that firm delivery dates are always only a figment of the manufacturer's/developer's imagination and that 3 months probably realistically means 9 months if you are lucky and all the stars align just right which they never do. :)
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Honestly, I have no more idea at this point when Pleco for iPhone is likely to be ready than you guys do - even if I knew exactly how long it would take, it's still not clear when 2.0 will be truly done (i.e., we've put out a bug-fix release too and everyone seems pretty content with it), nor is it clear how long the "desktop preview" version would take (if we do in fact do that first), so I don't even know when iPhone development might start, let alone finish. Could be out at the end of the summer, could be out Christmas of 2009, your guess is as good as mine.
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Yeah, we saw that earlier - doesn't really affect us much though as we've already extended our license with Hanwang to put their recognizer in our iPhone version. (which frankly is a lot better than Apple's from our experiments at least)

Should make the competitive situation on iPhone interesting, though - I'm sure there'll be at least half a dozen Chinese dictionaries released for it this summer, most probably CEDICT-based but possibly one or two that aren't (perhaps even using some of the same dictionaries that we do, I'm not sure). Which is why it's important that we take our time and release an iPhone product that's good enough to rise above the fray.
 
I

ipsi

状元
That looks interesting. It would probably be easier with a stylus, but it could still be ok. This, coupled with the news that Vodafone is releasing the iPhone in New Zealand, should be good news for the two Chinese I know with jail-broken iPhones :).

Has the iPhone been released in HK? Just wondering why the stuff at the top is in Traditional characters.
 
P

panamajack

举人
Palm emulator officially coming to the iPhone/Touch

It might not look purdy, but perhaps this will be able to tide over us Apple fans until Mike releases a native iPhone/Touch version of Pleco.

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http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9635 ... pod-touch/

StyleTap Officially Coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch
Posted By: Ryan Kairer on Friday, May 30, 2008 12:01:03 PM

StyleTap today officially confirmed that they plan to bring a version of its StyleTap CrossPlatform environment to the iPhone and the iPod touch platform. The move will essentially bring thousands of Palm OS apps over to the new iPhone platform.

Back in February StyleTap released a video demo of the StyleTap running Palm OS apps on a iPod Touch. The company says they have been overwhelmed by the level of interest and the video has been viewed over 800,000 times.

"The iPhone is one of the hottest new mobile devices out there," said Gregory Sokoloff, CEO of StyleTap Inc., "And the response to our video has convinced us that many, many consumers, and companies, will eagerly jump at the change to buy iPhone devices if they can continue to run their must-have applications."

According to the company technically, StyleTap CrossPlatform is an excellent fit with the iPhone, as the powerful processor and large screen allows applications written for Palm OS devices to run at full speed and at full screen resolution. The iPhone touch screen technology works in a very natural way with mobile applications originally designed for touch screen devices.

Further information about the product, including how it will be marketed and sold, will be made available in early July 2008 according to the company. StyleTap will also be on hands at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA from June 9-13, 2008, and will be available to meet with mobile application developers interested in learning more about StyleTap CrossPlatform for the Apple devices.

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C

changtian

Member
Hey Mike, are you planning to visit StyleTap representatives at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA on June 9-13th? Or are you planning on contacting them to find out further details? I'm thinking about buying Pleco software until this new Ipod touch opportunity is available in July because then I will be able to learn chinese, watch youtube, listen to my music, check facebook, etc. Keep me posted. I'm really excited about using your software. Thanks
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
Honestly, since we're already planning a native iPhone version of Pleco I don't know that we're going to worry much about StyleTap compatibility - if it's designed the way their WM version is it seems likely that it would work, but given the awkwardness of using a stylus-based interface on a finger-only device I don't think even a version of Pleco that ran perfectly in StyleTap would be satisfying enough to be useful for many people.

There's already a basic free Chinese dictionary for jailbroken iPhones, though, and I'm sure there'll be something similar through AppStore, so that might be a good alternative while you're waiting for the iPhone version of Pleco.

(I'm actually not even going to WWDC, taking a week off from working on finishing 2.0 to hang out with a bunch of hippie Mac programmers in San Francisco seems like a bad idea - much cheaper/easier to stay at home and watch the sessions on iTunes)
 
F

friedrice4u

Member
*knock knock*
just wondering if there's any new word on iPhone-Plecodict dev... is it safe to say that I can expect to have a Chinese dictionary within this year on the iPhone 3G?
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
We're keeping to a pretty strict code of silence on iPhone release dates - the first you'll hear about that will probably be an e-mail announcement saying that the iPhone version has just been released. Practically speaking we still don't really know what sorts of design issues we're going to face so there's no way to come up with even a remotely reliable estimate at this point.

I should remind everyone that as I've said here a few times before, the iPhone version of Pleco is not going to do everything the Palm/PPC versions do; there'll be several dictionaries that are missing/unavailable, and a number of features (like the document reader) will probably get cut at least initially due to the difficulty of adapting them for the iPhone interface, not to mention the fact that the closed-ness of an iPhone makes it difficult to freely add things like add-on dictionaries and flashcard lists. So for a Pleco "power user" Windows Mobile will likely continue to be the best bet for the near future at least.
 
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