No, Apple did not invent predictive text entry

From the moment Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world a lot has been written about the lack of a keyboard.  Mainstream media has been publishing articles about the big gamble Apple is taking by relying solely on an on-screen keyboard for input to email messages or IM messages.  I agree that this is a gamble and we will have to wait and see how this is received by consumers.  Most of these articles discussing the keyboard on the iPhone invariably get around to mentioning a great innovation by Apple for including the ability of the software to guess what word the user wants to input after just tapping the first letter or two.  The iPhone uses a list of common words that start with those letters and then offers the option to just tap the word in a box to enter the whole word, thus saving the user the effort of tapping all the letters in the word.  It is easy to see that this functionality is essential for an on-screen keyboard and is the only way such a keyboard would be tolerable.

This method of text entry was not invented by Apple, in spite of what these journalists are implying.  This is called predictive text entry and it has been a stock feature on Windows Mobile devices for years and years.  The Windows Mobile on-screen keyboard has always had this feature and the user can configure it to offer multiple word choices that pop up in the prediction box so the chance of the software offering the correct word is much more likely.  It has always worked well and is nothing new, not by a long shot.  The T9 text entry system has also had predictive text entry for some time and it works really well, especially on the Nokia phones that I've been testing recently.  It learns over time what words you are most likely to input (even names and URLs) and it is uncanny how the word you want to enter is often the first choice in the list.  Predictive text entry is a boon for text entry with keyboards on the screen and it will no doubt be useful on the iPhone.  But come on, this is nothing new and Apple is not introducing anything new with this.

Comments

[Matt C.]

The feature has also been on every Japanese cell phone that I have ever seen. If you've ever seen what they go through to input Chinese characters on a key pad, you'd understand.

-Matt

[Muliadi Jeo]

In fact all text messaging capable phones out there typically have this text predictive capability. On most Nokia, SonyEricsson, Motorola and Samsung phones, this feauture usually known as T9 predictive input.

[Marc Orchant]

James – of course you're right but this is what Apple is especially good at. When is the last time you saw a Windows Mobile, Nokia, or other media kit, briefing, or public demonstration talk about predictive text?

Apple has always been able to take existing concepts and "make them their own" by highlighting them in a way that is easy to pass along, compelling in a solving-a-problem way, and with enough of a twist in presentation in their OS to make the idea seem fresh.

The key market they're targeting for early adoption will look at this as Apple "innovation" or just a "good thing". And they'll demo it to their friends and family when they get their iPhone. And another urban legend will begin. ;^)

[mikhailovitch]

Who said it was? Certainly not Apple. It's been on my last three mobile phones. It's a toss up whether it's more annoying than helpful.

[chris p.]

Can you list the articles, or the companies that published these articles incorrectly citing Apple as the inventor of the technology? Also, since you have said that "most" of the articles you have read stated this, can you also cite all these articles? I always like to review & understand what companies or authors are not being honest in their endeavors. Thanks!

[James Kendrick]

I did not state that Apple is claiming to be the inventor of predictive text entry. I didn't say that the articles I've seen (latest one on the NYT, just search for them) stated that Apple invented this. The impressions given by these articles that discusses Apple's hot new text entry technology is definitely that Apple has created this field and this is what I am saying. If you mention Apple's "new" technology in an article and don't go on to say that a similar technology has been around for years then the reader can understandably assume that Apple created something new. Disputing that mistaken assumption is the purpose behind this article.

[William]

What difference does it make on who invented it?

[James Kendrick]

Doesn't make any difference I just don't want readers to think that this is brand new technology, it is rather old.

[Rollin Bancroft]

The first time I used predictive text entry was on the Apple Newton back in 1992.

[anon]

BlackBerry has had this forever. It's funny, a significant number of people get annoyed with suretype, and they're hitting physical buttons...I what's in store for Apple.

[JC]

I thought the predictive text entry on the iPhone took into account that the user might have hit an adjacent key by accident and corrects for those when possible? (At least Wikipedia claims that it does this, for whatever that's worth.) No, the idea of predictive text entry isn't new, but Apple might have come up with a different way of doing it.

Of course, you never stated that all Apple did was stick T9 or the WM predictive text entry system on the iPhone. Just as you never stated Apple claimed to invent predictive text entry. Just as all those other journalists never stated Apple invented predictive text entry. But you did state that Apple isn't introducing anything new with this. I think it's possible that Apple may be introducing a new algorithm for predicting text, one which corrects errors while predicting the word.

However, I don't have anything which runs Windows Mobile. For all I know, WM already does this with its virtual keyboard. I haven't read anything which makes me think this though.

[Jonathan Greene]

I thought actually that the "New" here was that when you are typing on a visual keyboard, it's able to predict what you are typing and correct the likely typos that will occur by mashing your fingers on the touchscreen.

[Cheryl]

Yeah, I don't think the text entry on the iPhone that they're touting (they may use predictive text in addition; I don't know) is predictive text. It's more like where someone mistakenly types "mrmber" and the software will present "member" as a correction you can choose. I forgot where I saw a picture of this, but that was the specific example I've seen.

Kind of like when Google, iTunes, or Amazon can't find results for the search term you typed, so they'll ask, did you mean this search term instead? Or like when apps like Outlook will automatically correct "teh" to be "the", rather than providing a list of words that it thinks you're going to type based on what you've already typed.

[Mike Cane]

>>>The T9 text entry system has also had predictive text entry for some time and it works really well,

WTF?!!? It's NEVER worked well for me. It's the first thing I disabled on my phone. And when I fondle phones, I dig around to see if it can be disabled on them too. Rubbish!

[T Man]

Wow, I've had this since my first cell phone a long time ago. In fact, I'm sure many in the target demographic have been using predictive text entry for quite some time. Nothing to see here.

Also, don't forget about iTAP.

[chris p.]

James, please don't be defensive or reactionary. I am not bashing or accusing you of anything. I am looking for the articles that you have read, that's all.

[Guy R]

Can anyone tell me if there's a version of this predictive text software that can be used on a tablet pc running Vista (Business)? Either in a third party on-screen keyboard app or, ideally, bolted on to the MS Tablet Input Panel? Thanks for any ideas.

Guy

[Sumocat]

chris p: While I don't have specific articles for you, I too have read many that imply (usually in passing) the iPhone packs more innovation than has even Steve Jobs has claimed, predictive text among them. As with many things Apple, sensationalism and misstatements on both sides of the aisle is commonplace, and the iPhone is certainly no exception.

I admit to contributing to the problem recently, wondering if the iPhone will be the first phone to properly display my blog. However, I did pose my wonderment as a question and Cheryl was kind enough to answer with a blog post showing that the S60 browser (based on Apple's WebCore) in Nokia phones can already do the job.

[theyoungatarts]

In case anyone wants to know who invented this technology...
The predictive texting or what is now commonly known as T9 technology was originally termed "character pattern recognition and communications apparatus" (Patent No. 4,674,112) and is a patent covering software invented in 1987 by Dr. George Kondraske, professor of electrical and biomedical engineering at UT Arlington. The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System holds the intellectual property rights to the technology.
Four settlements have been received by the board since litigation was filed in March 2005 in U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, for infringement from companies including Research in Motion, maker of the popular RIM Blackberry , Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and Philips Electronics North America Corp., and VK Corporation and VK Mobile USA, Inc. VK, a Korea-based company.