PalmOS nostalgia: Graffiti available for Android 33
PalmOS veterans fondly remember Graffiti, Palm’s easy and reliable character recognition method that was its first innovation (predating even its own devices, since it launched as a software package for Apple’s Newton), and that paved the way for its phenomenal success in the PDA marketplace. While Palm’s own Graffiti fell victim to a longstanding and expensive Xerox patent dispute and was replaced by the less-useful Graffiti 2, many of us still long for unistroke character entry for our modern webOS devices.
While we wait for some homebrew developer to take this on (hint, hint!), Android users have just gotten Graffiti for their devices, courtesy of (ironically enough) Access, the company to which Palm sold its PalmSource software division back in 2005, and which now has the official rights to Graffiti following the settlement of the Xerox case. PalmOS veterans fondly remember Graffiti, Palm’s easy and reliable character recognition method that was its first innovation (predating even its own devices, since it launched as a software package for Apple’s Newton), and that paved the way for its phenomenal success in the PDA marketplace. While Palm’s own Graffiti fell victim to a longstanding and expensive Xerox patent dispute and was replaced by the less-useful Graffiti 2, many of us still long for unistroke character entry for our modern webOS devices. While we wait for some homebrew developer to take this on (hint, hint!), Android users have just gotten Graffiti for their devices, courtesy of (ironically enough) Access, the company to which Palm sold its PalmSource software division back in 2005, and which now has the official rights to Graffiti following the settlement of the Xerox case. We wish our AndroidCentral colleagues fun scribbling on their screens!
Source: PalmInfoCenter, via Android Central
33 Comments
I remember using this on one of my mom's Palm Pilots!
I was bummed when my Treo didn't have Grafitti... I used it all the time!
Wow, I had literally just copied the url of Android Central's article and was about to send in a tip when I refreshed and saw it already posted! Great coverage! Would definitely love to see it on webOS!
You do realize that Android Central and Pre Central are from the same company, right? Written by many of the same writers, right? That would be like writing ESPN to tip them off about a story you saw on ESPN2.
Man, I remember sitting in class in high school messing around with graffiti on my m100. Don't think I could ever do it very well, though. Seems like forever ago.
Had it on my old Tungsten T. But I would rather type on the keyboard now.
I saw this yesterday, and had only one thought:
Grafiti on a capaciive touch screen, for finger use?
Talk about inefficient...
;)
[Duplicate comment deleted]
Far from it. For quick text entry, especially without looking down, it's *much* more efficient thaN, say, a glass virtual keyboard. And as someone who finger-drew on PalmOS devices for years, I can attest that one can get very good at Graffiti with just a fingertip. {Jonathan}
Jonathan;
As one who has tried it on the earlier PALM devices with a stylus, and understood its potential on a RESISTIVe touch screen, I can tell you, for sure, that this, on a capacitive touch screen will be, at he very least, clumsy to use, and, at best, a real challenge for the average user.
Its just the way the capacitive screen works, that makes this inefficient.
IMO, of course!
I used it for a while yesterday (on a capacitive screen, of course) and it doesn't seem any slower or clumsier than when I was using it on my many Palm devices of yesteryear... In fact, it is quite nice.
I had graffiti on my old handspring from way back.... I can agree with you MAYBE on the touchscreen only phones (but at the same time you have to pay as much attention with graffiti as you do with any other touch screen input). The reason I don't see me leaving palm for a LONG time is because (especially with WebOS) Palm is the only competitor for features with a physical keyboard.
Thus far in general everyday use I have not found myself fond of a landscape keyboard, and REFUSE to go touchscreen keyboard. Plus for being what many say at least at this point is the smallest player, Palm and WebOS have everything I need. Sure it could be faster, could have more specs, etc. But nothing else does all of what my (Sprint) Pre does. There are phones that do some things better but then don't do other things at all. The reason this phone fits my need is because I don't need graffiti (for example). =)
Same thought here. Seems its just for fun. I can't imagine it being as useful as a keyboard or swype or shapewriter.
Palm didn't sell PalmSource to ACCESS. PalmSource sold itself. Palm and PalmSource were already two independent companies at that point (which is one of the problems that led to the Palm platform stagnating).
+1
Graffiti was something I never used on any of my previous palm devices.
Why use it when you have a perfectly good keyboard?
Oh wait - the Android doesn't have a perfectly good keyboard, it has a virtual keyboard.
You have no idea what you are talking about. There are many Android devices. And 1/3 or more of them have physical keyboards, all of which are far superior than the one on the Pre, and most of which are superior than the Pixi.
And, unlike WebOS, you can install ANY TYPE of virtual keyboard you like under Android. If you have not used Shapewriter or Swype, then just SHUT UP because you are totally ignorant. I can "type" about 10 times faster/easier using Shapewriter than ANYTHING you can do on the Pre or Pixi.
Predictive text, auto entry, gesture writing, fast launch, fast response, spellcheck, learning modes, landscape or portrait, and now Graffiti writing too. Keep dreaming.
Predictive text, auto entry, gesture writing, fast launch, fast response, spellcheck, learning modes, landscape or portrait, and now Graffiti writing too
...and speech-to-text
The speech-to-text is awful.
Predictive text and autocomplete are worse. I get more text message 'puzzles' from my Android toting friends than I know what to do with.I should start a blag and call it "Android made me say it" sharing all the absurd messages I get.
Blag...Ha LOL!
Memories... of my handspring (orange) Deluxe... I still remember my grafitti... was quite fast at it too!!!
It sure was awesome when I used a stylus. With a multitouch screen, though, it's just kind of silly. Well, there are times when I don't want to slide the keyboard out...but those times are few and far between. I personally stopped using Graffiti when I bought my first Treo.
This is interesting... I wonder if we can have this as another data input option. I think I'd use this more than the virtual keyboard if I'm too lazy to use the slide out one.
Imagine Graffiti on hp printers... I hope Palm licenses this :)
In retrospect, doesn't Palm have a perpetual license agreement with Access to use PalmOS? Will this apply for Android/Linux?
I installed it yesterday on my Evo. It really is a blast from the past! And it works very well, even better than on the original PalmOS devices, because it shows you the shapes you draw. I am impressed. This needs to come to WebOS devices, for sure.
Of course, it isn't all THAT practical. With a lot of practice on a standard virtual and a Graffiti, the Graffiti will be no more than half as fast for text entry. And if you compare a standard virtual to Shapewriter, Shapewriter is probably five times as fast.
I liked Graffiti on my old PDAs. I could use Graffiti while walking down the street without having to stare at the screen as I wrote.
Before I bought the Palm Pilot 1000 (128KB upgraded to a huge 1MB), I borrowed a friend's Palm Pilot and played the Giraffe game (a "typing" tutorial) for a little while. I figured if I could master the game, then using Graffiti for daily use wouldn't be a problem.
I used to use it to write my notes in class on my palm pilot, without looking and with very few mistakes. But, that was only if a forgot my half-fold IR keyboard with the mirror that reflected the IR signal to a landscape sitting pilot...Memories!
I think the 'not looking at the screen' advantage is what I miss from graffiti and would be great for the Pre. imagine being able to hold a button (probably a volume button) then scrawl graffiti characters over the whole screen - it would work great! I think....
Uh... Does the article repeat itself.. I think it does. I saw (hint hint) twice.
Uh... Does the article repeat itself.. I think it does. I saw (hint hint) twice.
Jonathan: your article doubles itself.
How hard is it to port from andriod to WebOS?
Had it on my m130, lost it with on Centro, and am totally missing it still. Graffiti is far superior to any virtual keyboard, but the Pre's physical keyboard is perfect for me. I just wish I had a Graffiti option to supplement my physical keyboard on the Pre.