TenGO Soft Keyboard for Pocket PC

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=10111&associateid=204' target='_blank'>http://www.pocketgear.com/software_...associateid=204</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/20030721_tengo_animated.gif" /> <br /><br />"TenGO™ is a powerful text entry method designed for handheld pocket devices. It uses an innovative tap-and-scribe method to input text on the Soft Input Panel (SIP). With the new official release, Version 1.1, TenGO is now better than ever. TenGO now supports accented characters input as well as Windows Mobile 2003 OS. The code has been optimized to use less system resources and supports all types of text input applications in your Pocket PC.<br /><br />TenGO™ is specially designed for mobile devices using only 6 large keys to type. The technology allows you to type with fewer and larger keys yet still retaining the familiarity, feel and flow of the conventional QWERTY keyboard. Fewer keys makes it easier to type, while larger keys allows you to type fast without missing or hitting the wrong keys. The QWERTY design means that you do not need to spend time to relearn a new keyboard."<br /><br />I'm not normally a big fan of new input methods, because I find many of them too difficult to use, but this one deserves your serious attention - I only played with it for a few minutes, but I really liked what I saw. If you're looking for something faster than the keyboard SIP, but more accurate than Transcriber, this is worth checking out. <a href="http://www.pocketgear.com/download.asp?product_id=10111">Download the free trial</a> and take a look. [Affiliate]

[Andy Whiteford]

Quite impressed with this keyboard so far. There are a couple of small flaws that for me, impact on the speed of sentence completion but the good news is these are small flaws and so could be relatively easy to improve on. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

[Wingnut]

I'm at work right now, so I can't test this out, but would someone mind telling me how you can type with only 6 keys? I don't seem to "get it" from the pictures.

[Crystal Eitle]

I'm at work right now, so I can't test this out, but would someone mind telling me how you can type with only 6 keys? I don't seem to "get it" from the pictures.
I didn't "get it" either, so I downloaded it. The answer is: it works by math! You type the buttons that contain the letters you want, and from the combination, the program figures out what word it has to be. In cases where more than one word is possible, it gives you a choice.

If you're trying to type a word the program doesn't have in its dictionary, you draw a line over the letters you want, to spell it out letter-by-letter. The program then adds the new word to its vocabulary.

It's really easy, and for speed I could see it competing with Fitaly.

The only problem is, it doesn't play nice with programs that have their own auto-complete, such as Cash Organizer. I could practically see Tengo and CO duking it out for which one was going to have dominance.

[karinatwork]

Pretty nice keyboard so far. I do finally understand how it is working... but it's not working all the time. Maybe I am too dumb, but I don't get it to write the word "don't", and I cannot find a way to write it letter by letter. Some goes when typing a name...

I was looking for help files, or some FAQ on their website, but nothing there. Any ideas?

Seems like a really great idea, but I think I do need to read some instructions first!

:) Karin

[Andy Whiteford]

It works like the T9 entry system that lets you enter words with 9 keys on your mobile phone. You push the relevant button that has the letter you want and as you type, the program predicts what word you are typing and highlights this in the selection field along with a list of alternate matches. As soon as the word you are wanting appears, you can either tap on it to enter it or carry on typing until the full word is spelled out then carry on with your next word.

[Crystal Eitle]

but I don't get it to write the word "don't", and I cannot find a way to write it letter by letter.
I had to spell it out letter-by-letter (draw a line over each letter). It seems dumb that they don't have this in the program's dictionary.

I was looking for help files, or some FAQ on their website, but nothing there. Any ideas?

If you hit the fN key on the keyboard it brings up a question-mark icon that takes you to Help.

[hkpocketpc]

The code has been optimized to use less system resources and supports all types of text input applications in your Pocket PC.

I have installed an chinese input method called Q9 in my Chinese Pocket Loox but TenGO never load :cry: I hope this could be fixed in the future release of TenGo and Pocket PC OS. :|

[Jimmy Dodd]

I'm trying this on my h2215 and nothing seems to happen. The keys flash but the letters I tap don't appear anywhere. When I drag a stroke over a character the line appears over the key, but nothing appears on the Word doc (which is where I'm working) or in the suggestion box.

Is there a trick to getting this thing started?

EDIT: An extra reset seems to have done the trick.

[zoltix]

I use the T9 predictive system throughout the day for sending emails from my phone so Tengo is natural for me.

The only major improvement I would suggest is the option to have the keys arranged alphabetically.
It doesn't matter how familiar you are with QWERTY, the straightforward alphabet is more deeply engrained and can be easily and effectively split into groups of 4 or 5 letters e.g. so that a vowel is in each group.

It also offers the opportunity to break away from QWERTY for those of us not brought up with a typewriter - in fact many young people in the UK, where texting is the standard form of communication, can rattle off a message using the A to Z layout.

[Jimmy Dodd]

The first thing I notice while using this is that I have to pay a lot more attention to the suggestions and the auto-selected word than with other methods. Short words work particularly poorly. For example, type 'o', 'f', and space into TenGO and you get 'is'. Having to type all the letters of a word AND then having to select the word from a list (if it is even in the list to start with) seems to slow me down considerably.

That's just a first impression though. Maybe it will get better with experience. With only a 14 day trial it had better improve quickly.

[TawnerX]

This seems to work great for short passage input, like SMS.

for one/two words input I would say virtual keyboard is better because of the predictive.

[Pony99CA]

If you want a different input method, check out Tapless (http://www.tapless.biz). It's like the Pocket PC word completion on steroids, and I posted a quick summary over at pocketnow (http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=1779).

Steve

[madbart]

I have loaded and am using this get little application.
Because i am so used to sending sms's this is a very easy transition :lol:

[Hellblazer]

Hi All,

I am Edwin from Xrgomics, the company behing TenGO. Thanks for the interests and comments on TenGO. Hope I can help clarify on some of them.

TenGO was designed to replicate a smooth flow of typing which entails:
1) Typing out the word and then looking at the word formed and selecting the correct word in the hint window if necessary.
2) The words you use will quickly float to be the top choice.
3) If the word does not exist in the library, the user could scribe (strike through) the letters, forming the word letter by letter, which the word would then be saved automatically in the library. Thus, you could simply tap the word as in step 1 the second time around.
4) The user could also tap the first part of the word and then follow by scribing to complete the word. The new word will be saved on space, punctuation or carriage return.

This is the basic flow of TenGO. The additional complement to TenGO is includes:
1) Partial word completion that can help users who are typing particularly long words. This is however more useful for foreign languages like German. Not advisable to use this in the beginning as some readers aptly point out that it may interrupt the flow of typing. It is often easier to just simply complete the word and then check rather than check the word continuously (which is the main design for TenGO - to incorporate a smooth flow with six large keys).
2) Word deletion. New words saved can be easily deleted from the database by press and holding (r-click with stylus) the word choice in the hint window, where you would then be given an option to delete the word.

Admittedly, the flow is not as smooth as we like for short character words like "is" and "of". though after a while, a user will tend to know which words needs to check for at the hint window, but we will continue to see how we could improve this on our side.

Regarding the input of the word don't, the quickest way is to type "don" (select the word if necessary) and then tap aprostrophe and tap the button conaining "t" and you will get don't. this works similarly for words like can't, she's, etc.

Hope the above information helps in your use and experience with TenGO. Thanks again for all the support. Please feel free to write to me or reply here should you have any further queries or feedback.

Regards,
Edwin
[email protected]
Xrgomics - TenGO
P.S. If you encounter problems running TenGO initially, please soft reset the Pocket PC, run Notes and then select TenGO, after which you can use TenGO in other applications. This happens either because the Pocket PC was not soft resetted after installation or the soft reset was interrupted (e.g. replacing the Pocket PC back to the cradle/cable too quickly).

[Jerry Raia]

Pretty nice keyboard so far. I do finally understand how it is working... but it's not working all the time. Maybe I am too dumb, but I don't get it to write the word "don't", and I cannot find a way to write it letter by letter. Some goes when typing a name...

I was looking for help files, or some FAQ on their website, but nothing there. Any ideas?

Seems like a really great idea, but I think I do need to read some instructions first!

:) Karin

I quite like this program but I have to agree on the contracted words like "don't". My cell phone will give me those words albeit without the " ' ". I will probably buy it though. As mentioned earlier using it on a phone makes it real easy to get used to on the PDA.

[hkpocketpc]

[quote]I have installed an chinese input method called Q9 in my Chinese Pocket Loox but TenGO never load :cry: I hope this could be fixed in the future release of TenGo and Pocket PC OS. :|

I have to praise the customer service of TenGo. :D

Once they seem my message in here, they sent me a PM about my problem and give some suggestion to my problem. Although there suggestion doesn't work for me, but I finally solve the problem myself. I just disenabled all the today plug-in and soft reset my Loox. Once I reset I could load TenGo again.

Anyways thanks for their attention.

[karinatwork]

I used it last night for approximately 45 minutes to type something in my journal, and I must say: WOW! I already like it a lot! Much more than Calligrapher or other word recognition programs. It is so much more accurate. And there is no comparison with the built in keyboard! I'll try it some more, but I will most likely buy the program. I am about the cheapest cheapskate there is when it comes to buying programs, and I will most likely whine a little bit about the price, but this one is really worth it. :wink:

[Jerry Raia]

Ok I bought it. I like it. :mrgreen:

[karinatwork]

Just bought it too. Now waiting for the confirmation code.
:)

[Jerry Raia]

You go back to thier web site and get it.
http://www.tengo.net/tengo_register.php
:)

[Jerry Raia]

The more i use this product the more i like.

[BlueFly]

Hi,

I'm a newbie here, just bought my new Toshiba e750 a few weeks ago. Since then, I have been scouring PPC sites/forums for "must-have" software (and apparently spent quite a bit of money on impulse buy).

Must admit that I'm not happy with those default text-input options as none enable me to type or write without feeling strained or fatigue (and sometime frustrating).

After trying a variety of soft-keyboards, TenGO seems to work for me. Sort of an undescribable feeling, but I can feel that the typing momentum is sustainable. Good to see that many people in this posting also share my view.

Anyway, I guess text input method is quite a personal thing. Just want to share my experience (and new-found "love") and also to start choking up my posting counts!

PS: BTW, did I post at the right place or should I start a new topic?? :roll: