LCD Keyboards to WiFi VOIP Converters, Gadget Demo Highlights - Something for Tablet PC Fans
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The tablet PC may not be as common as the kind with a keyboard, but it does have its adherents. One reason it is not as popular is that, especially for those who are good typists wise to the ways of keyboard shortcuts, the pen input mode is not as productive as the keyboard mode. ActiveWord Systems released a software utility that it hopes will change this. It allows users to quickly access websites and applications with just a stroke or two of the stylus.
Dubbed InkPad, the software allows users to create their own system for using words to navigate to folders, files, programs, and web-based services; send email; substitute text; and carry out many computer-related actions. A user can, for example, pop up the application, write NYT, and have the program take them to the New York Times website. The utility was previously only available for keyboard-based PCs. Now it can be used on tablet PCs.
“Transformative” is a word that is frequently passed around with every new “revolutionary breakthrough” in technology, but when someone sees a lot of hopeful new products and services, I’m inclined to pay attention to what he says. Chris Shipley, executive producer of Demo Fall 2005, looked at literally hundreds of companies to make his selections of the 65 who presented. He chose ActiveWords and its product because, “On the desktop, ActiveWords is a great convenience. In the Tablet PC environment, however, ActiveWords InkPad is transformative, bringing greater efficiency and a new level of usability to the tablet UI. No Tablet PC should ship without this software.”
Of course, it’s not just tablet PCs that can benefit from such a potentially intuitive interface. Peter Weldon, president of ActiveWords, explains his company’s plans for the future of this software. “The InkPad shows why ActiveWords is the easiest and fastest way to get what you want on any computing device. Just enter words and make things happen. The next step is to integrate the instantaneous results and personalization of ActiveWords across PDAs and cell phones, giving you continuous access to your ActiveWords on all of your devices.” That kind of platform independence with a product that makes it easier to do what you want and need to do with your various electronic devices may well be worth looking forward to.
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