Fleksy has launched its text-messaging touchscreen keyboard app for the Samsung Gear 2 smart watch. The product was first revealed to be in development at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain, in February.
Fleksy is the first keyboard app developer to integrate with the Samsung Gear 2, adding enhanced SMS capability to the smart watch. The three-year-old San Francisco-based company makes touchscreen keyboards for smartphones and tablets.
With its full QWERTY keyboard, sending and replying to text messages from the Gear 2 will be a familiar process to current users, who will be able to access contact information, messages and threads. They will be able to compose, send and reply to messages instantly using the Fleksy keyboard, despite the Gear 2's compact 1.63-inch screen.
"This is an important milestone in our mission to make touchscreen typing easier on wearable devices," said Ioannis Verdelis, COO of Fleksy. "We are now bridging the gap between the smart watch and smartphone, making it easier for users to communicate directly from their wrists."
Fleksy touchscreen keyboard software is designed to make typing on any device fast, accurate and easy to use without looking. The company claims that a unique language algorithm based on Geometric Intelligence builds on and exceeds current text prediction and autocorrect standards. The patent-pending technology looks at where the user taps, analyzes the typing pattern and determines the user's intention.
The Fleksy touchscreen keyboard app, which will be downloadable from the Samsung Apps store, will integrate with the Samsung Gear 2's Tizen operating system.
The Gear 2's predecessor, the Galaxy Gear smart watch, sported an Android OS. Text message threads that started on another device, such as a Fleksy-equipped smartphone, will sync and be replicated on the Gear 2 through the Fleksy interface. The Fleksy keyboard's Android version is available for Android devices in both a free and paid version.
The Fleksy for Gear 2 app is currently a free download from the Samsung App store.
Fleksy is also developing a third-party touchscreen keyboard for use in Apple's forthcoming iOS 8. That's because Apple announced at its recent World Wide Developer's Conference that it would allow third-party keyboards to operate in iOS for the first time. Fleksy has announced that a beta version of the software will be available for consumers (who must apply to Fleksy to be included in the program) to test and comment on.
Smart watch enthusiasts will welcome the Fleksy touchscreen keyboard app as a key step in enhancing the functionality and practicality of the smart watch concept.
