iphone news

Very cool.  Iphone is adding Chinese character recogition.

Screen shots posted on Chinese site wretch.cc allege that iPhone firmware 2.0 has added support for Chinese handwriting recognition in addition to a revamped (albeit non-recognition) Japanese interface. While that’s still light years from an Apple admission that not everyone is in love with the on-screen keyboard, it’s one small step toward functionality that seems to make boatloads of sense — in any language — given the phone’s generously proportioned touchscreen and its reluctant but unavoidable nomination as the Newton’s spiritual successor. What isn’t clear is how folks are expected to draw characters, seeing how there’s no provision for an on-board stylus, the entire interface is designed for finger use, and we don’t see many owner rushing out for a Pogo. However Apple intends for this feature to be used, the implementation looks pretty hot, capable of operating in both portrait and landscape modes. Sadly, it seems that Chinese is the one and only language supported at the moment; sure you don’t want to let everyone in on the Graffiti-esque retro fun here, guys?

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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13 Comments

  1. Jim Dorchak says:

    Fr Z

    With a little humor…..

    This sign / symbol was originated in the English Speaking world for Square Feet. I have used it for years in my industry.

    Jim Dorchak

  2. Thomas says:

    My head just exploded reading that, Father. And when I finally stuffed all the gray matter back into my fractured skull, I thanked God that I’m a Medievalist when it comes to technology.

  3. Thomas: You should get together with the guy in another entry whose head exploded when I learned I kill time with Halo II when on the exercise bike.

  4. joe says:

    A question I have always pondered: How do Chinese people arrange thing in the equivalence of Alphabetical order if they have no similar sequence ? Off topic, but if you answer this, I can cross one off my secular list and go back to pondering mysteries of faith.

  5. Paul says:

    That’s great now if I could talk Apple into giving me an Ipod for free so I can test the Chinese character recogition software, I would be set.

  6. Brandon says:

    Halo II? Really Father? Really? I think you should try some good old fashioned Starcraft.

  7. TJB says:

    In other news, iPhone has also announced that it is coming to Canada this year!!!! (date still unannounced)Exciting for us up north of the border!

  8. Melody says:

    I told my fellow nerd today about you playing Halo II as part of my “priests are people too” campaign. (i.e. it’s harder to blindly hate people who have the same nerdy hobbies as you).

  9. Matt Q says:

    Father plays HALO?! No way! Totally? Wait until you get to III. It’s good but sort of trails off mid way. I think.

    Father Z, you play it while riding an exercise bike? …

    …!!

    ==========

    TJB, only now you’re getting iPhones in Canada? Why are you getting it so late and other places got it just about the same time we got them? Weird. Personally, I don’t like it. I like what the iPhone does and how it functions but its appearance does nothing for me. It looks like people are carrying around a rear-view mirror.

  10. Art says:

    Joe: Chinese is organized by the number of strokes it takes to write a word. It doesn’t have an alphabet since it is a syllabic language rather than a phonetic one like most western languages.

  11. Brandon: I think I did the Starcraft thing. As a matter of fact I remember it when it was a DOX game, and you needed to plot courses on graph paper. However, it is pretty hard to work on keyboard and mouse when exercising. The XBOX controller is more usable.

  12. Jason in San Antonio says:

    I hope our children have Chinese character recognition. They’re going to need it.

  13. Adam says:

    Father – why do I get the sense that you are learning to read and write Chinese …

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