Calligrapher Upgrades to v6.5

[Brad Adrian]

<a href="http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;platformId=2&amp;productType=2&amp;catalog=0&amp;amp;sectionId=0&amp;productId=18747">http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&amp;platformId=2&amp;productType=2&amp;catalog=0&amp;amp;sectionId=0&amp;productId=18747</a><br /><br />Software developer Phatware Corporation has announced a recent upgrade to its Calligrapher handwriting recognition software. Among the new enhancements are:<br /><br />• Support for Italian handwriting recognition (although all non-English language packs must be purchased separately)<br />• Allows users to email images directly from the ScratchPad<br />• Improved PenCommander User Interface<br />• Fixed incompatibility with Terminal Server Client on Handheld PCs<br />• Improved touch screen driver makes writing on the screen feel smoother<br />• New options allow configuring the handwriting recognition engine to recognize only words from the dictionary<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/calligrapher.gif" /><br /><br />I like Calligrapher. I like Calligrapher a lot. A whole lot. In fact, I feel (and Ed, don't get your fitaly-loving shorts in a knot) that Calligrapher is the best input method available for the Pocket PC. It's always been a pretty solid method, but with each revision, it only gets better. My experience has been that this latest update makes the recognition even faster, smoother and more accurate. Even if your handwriting is sloppy, chances are the new Calligrapher will work well for you.<br /><br />The upgrade is free to registered users of any 6.X version, and costs $23.95 for earlier versions.

[paris]

a great tool just got better!!!!!!! I could never use my Pocket PC without calligrapher ;)

[Brad Adrian]

a great tool just got better!!!!!!! I could never use my Pocket PC without calligrapher ;)
And I LOVE the shortcuts! About the only time I do NOT use it is when entering non-standard words like proper names and addresses.

[that_kid]

I love it too, I upgraded to the latest version and it works even better now. I really like the shortcuts and lately I've been using the notes feature too.

[Rirath]

Gave it a fair shot, no such luck for me and my "handwriting".

[Tomcat RIO]

Can anyone give a short comparison to Transcriber :?:

[Brad Adrian]

You can think of Transcriber as "Calligrapher Lite," especially since they were developed by the same people. Transcriber allows for basic recognition, but Calligrapher adds:

Multilingual support
On-screen pop-up keyboard for entering difficult words
Note taking and screen drawing

But, most important (to me) is the Pen Commander. This allows you to create shortcuts for often-typed words, phrases or paragraphs. For instance, if I write "b" and draw a circle around it, Calligrapher enters my name and full mailing address. You can also create macros that do things like open apps, create new documents, etc. For me, the shortcut/macro capability alone is worth the price.

[Ed Hansberry]

In fact, I feel (and Ed, don't get your fitaly-loving shorts in a knot) that Calligrapher is the best input method available for the Pocket PC.

{cough}{cough}45 wpm{cough}{cough}

[Brad Adrian]

{cough}{cough}45 wpm{cough}{cough}
{cough}{cough}how many misspellings?{cough}{cough}

[Ed Hansberry]

{cough}{cough}how many misspellings?{cough}{cough}

i NeVEr mispeml wrdes.

[QYV]

I got 38 WPM with Transcriber as measured by SIP Timer in just a couple of tries. I bet I could get 45 WPM if I was just writing and not copying an existing sentence.

[yvilla]

Indeed, Calligrapher is the best investment I ever made in software for my Pocket PC!

I only wish I hadn't waited so long to buy it; the price put me off it for the first year plus, but then after trying just about all the other input solutions out there I finally tried it and realized how foolish I was. The cost of this software is worth every penny.

[Janak Parekh]

{cough}{cough}45 wpm{cough}{cough}
{cough}{cough}how many misspellings?{cough}{cough}
Hmm, does someone have a cold around here? Where's the "cough" smiley when you need it?

Seriously - for large amount of English prose, Transcriber is hard to beat. As long they're words in a spell checker, the accuracy is insanely good.

However, getting them to recognize "Janak" out of the box is a bit of a challenge :( I do notice that Calligrapher has a user-definable dictionary. Cool, I'll have to give it a try. :)

--janak

[Brad Adrian]

However, getting them to recognize "Janak" out of the box is a bit of a challenge...
I guess you'll just have to change your name...

[Janak Parekh]

I guess you'll just have to change your name...
Tell you what, we'll swap. :D

Actually, I've managed to get Transcriber to recognize it about 20% of the time. I have to write really neatly, and I'm a neat writer in general.

--janak

[Sheynk]

45 WPM on transcriber or calligrapher?

That is FAST.
That is my top speed using the midget keyboard that comes with the iMac at school. On a natural though......

[Duncan]

Calligrapher is terribly impressive... my writing is often illegible even to me - but Calligrapher somehow manages to get it almost every time! That said - Fitaly is my second choice...

[SiliconAddict]

There is no Dutch language module so it cannot handle my Dutch scriblings. I have bought it a while ago but it turned out to be completely useless for me. Too bad. :(

[JonnoB]

However, getting them to recognize "Janak" out of the box is a bit of a challenge...
I guess you'll just have to change your name...

Didn't he try that? When out and about... "Mr. Big Daddy, your table is ready" has a twisted sound to it. :P

[Bruno]

I really love Calligrapher :) , BUT... :?

As i live in sweden we use the swedish characters åäö and calligrapher had never supported those letters. :x

And that really makes me mad bacause if Windows CE supports the full character set why cant Calligrapher. Or at least make it possible for me to add these characters to the list in the software.

Does anybody know if this latest version supports exotic letters as åäö?

[JvanEkris]

There is no Dutch language module so it cannot handle my Dutch scriblings. I have bought it a while ago but it turned out to be completely useless for me. Too bad. :(

I use it for dutch as well. Not much problems if you switch to "single letter mode" and keep the user-dictionary in shape. It requires some first investment, but i loved it ever since....

Jaap
Moderator Dutch Pocket PC Club

[Newsboy]

I hated Transcriber until I discovered how to "teach" it how I write. Now it's my favorite input method, using the keyboard for "hard" works or characters.

My only greivance is that I have to "re-teach" it now that I reset the device. That's a pain. Wish there was some way to save my preferences. Guess I'll have to look into getting Calligrapher!

[Janak Parekh]

Didn't he try that? When out and about... "Mr. Big Daddy, your table is ready" has a twisted sound to it. :P
Hmm. I'll have to make sure I do that the next time you're visiting NYC. ;)

--janak