Doing the TenGO

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.computerworld.com.sg/pcwsg.nsf/unidlookup/884505BC2C2AE12A48256D8200114206?OpenDocument' target='_blank'>http://www.computerworld.com.sg/pcw...06?OpenDocument</a><br /><br /></div>"Home grown company Xrgomics has developed TenGO, a text input software for the Pocket PC. The software is also currently undergoing testing for the PalmOS (operating system) as well. The TenGO technology essentially reduces the conventional Qwerty keyboard to only 10 keys for text entry yet retains the same functionality. The development of the product arose out of a need for text entry solutions that were easy to use and practical, said Edwin Ng (left), the chief marketing officer of Xrgomics.<br /><br />Developed by a team of five, Xrgomics has applied for a US patent for the technology. The key challenge that the team faced was to come up with a solution that is simple and yet performs like a full keyboard, and which does not need much relearning. Also, another criteria was that the solution had to be device agnostic so as to be reusable in applications on different devices and platforms."

[kfluet]

Wow.

You know, sometimes you see something and think: That's so simple. Why didn't I think of that.

Even if the initial implementation is a bit rough, this has a lot of potential.

My Current Text Input: WordLogic and Transcriber

[jkendrick]

One of our guys just did a review of TenGo and he really liked it. I have an issue where it regularly won't let me enter alphabetic characters (numbers & symbols work fine).

www.bostonpocketpc.com

[ctmagnus]

T9 stuff just does not work for me. I tried it on my phone for a while but spelling out the whole word was a lot faster and easier for me. Same with Tengo on my 3670. Neither of them would ever suggest the correct word for me.

[KH]

I'm giving it a try, honest. I've been a Calligrapher afficionado for some time, but I'm always open to try a new data entry method. I replaced paper note taking with my IPAQ 3650 almost as soon as it came out - 206 MHz was sufficiently better than the 70Mhz model I had before that eNote-taking became usable for me and I never looked back. Having all of my notes immediately in file format and never having to worry about organizing notebooks is SO addicting.

So far I haven't been successful at matching my Calligrapher results with anything else, including Fitaly and large keyboards. This week I was in a class and used the occasion to look at both TenGo and MessagEase. What I have found so far is:
TenGo: I love the big keyboard and the concept. BUT Word choice success is disappointing, AND I have to constantly watch the words it is suggesting or it defaults to the wrong word, which is a bit clumsy.
MessagEase: Accuracy is higher than Calligrapher, but it is slower. Also I find I was depending on Calligrapher's conversion time to compose my next burst of words. I think I might pick up even more speed with this one, but it is more stressful to use.

I'll give them both another week...

[SofaTater]

I've been using TenGo for about a month and it works better for me than any other input method I've tried. The only glitch I have is that you sometimes burn time when a word is not recognized, and sometimes it insists on putting in the wrong word even when I choose the correct one. But those glitches are rare and, overall, it works very well for me.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I'd be curious to know what wpm people are reaching using this method.