Israel Matzav

Israeli startup makes keyless keyboard for mobile computers

An Israeli startup has invented a keyless keyboard for use with mobile computer devices.

An Israeli start-up has launched a system that aims to make mobile computing easier by letting users type on invisible keys instead of a keyboard that typically takes up much of the screen.

SnapKeys calls its technology the "keyless keyboard" and has forged a deal with Philips Electronics to market the product, company officials said.

SnapKeys and Philips will split revenue 50-50.

"There is a fundamental problem in entering data on mobile devices," SnapKeys Chief Executive Benjamin Ghassabian told Reuters. "Keyboards were meant for fixed devices, not mobile. And screens are not supposed to be your input device; they are supposed to be output."

He said the keyless keyboard was 10 years in the making.

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The keyboard has four invisible keys -- two on each side of the device's screen -- each comprising six to seven letters. There are other keys for numbers, punctuation and symbols.

At first, the location of the keys appears on the screen but the company believes users will quickly learn the location of letters and will not need the overlay for long. Users tap the invisible keys with their thumbs and the system predicts the words.

SnapKeys says its English version has about 100,000 words and is 92 percent accurate. If the word isn't correct, it can be changed.

Ghassabian said the system, in which typing words is far faster than a typical keyboard, is available in all European languages as well as Chinese. An Indian version is in the works.

But of course, not in Hebrew. Funny, I was just talking to someone today about how so much of the technology that's developed here is not available here or much more expensive here. I wonder if using one here would get you a ticket, a fine and some points on your license.

The company was financed with $4 million of private money. And no, unfortunately, I am not their lawyer.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:35 AM