The Android Wear devices currently available let you respond to texts as well as read them – but they employ either voice-based input or canned responses to do so, and neither is entirely ideal. A whole host of alternative keyboard makers will likely try to deliver alternate solutions, but Minuum is among the first to offer a working solution. In the video above, you can see how it makes text entry fairly easy on a smartwatch, even on the tiny square screen of the LG G Watch.
The design uses a single line of keys for entry, and a predictive algorithm to make a best-guess about what word it is you’re looking for. You can use the line of text predictions to quickly autocomplete words, or hold the screen down to access special characters. It still doesn’t look quite as easy as thumb typing with two hands on a standard screen, but it’s a lot better than trying to rope a full-sized keyboard onto a tiny screen, and it’s less socially awkward than speaking into your wrist.
I want to type things on my wrist so that I never have to get my smartphone out of my pocket just to post trollish replies to people on Twitter, so this could be a great way to do that – maybe the best given the necessary trade-offs that come with wearable tech and small screens. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can sign up at Minuum’s site to partake in the beta.
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