Well. It’s good. Rather good, in fact.

I installed the Swype beta on my new Samsung Nexus S to see how it would perform. I have been rather impressed.

Have a look at how I got on. Oh, and sorry for the whispering. There was a large lady sitting opposite staring with a very disapproving look as I quietly narrated the video. She really put me off.

You can pick up the Swype for Android beta here. If you’ve got an Android device I strongly recommend you check it out.

For the MIR geeks, do you remember when we first saw Swype demonstrated? I managed to snag a (semi?) exclusive demonstration from one of the executives at CTIA back in 2008. The video is here.

But is it any good> Well, I think with Swype, you need to see it to believe it.

I haven’t, yet. But I intend popping by their stand to find out more.

Swype will, it’s founders contend, change the way people input text on any screen at all. I’m well up for a good solution.

Here’s a bit more from Swype:

With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard, the patented technology enables users to input words faster and easier than other data input methods-at over 50 words per minute. The application is designed to work across a variety of devices such as phones, tablets, game consoles, kiosks, televisions, virtual screens and more.

In the history of text input, there have been two mainstream foundational technologies. First was the mechanical keyboard as represented by the typewriter and PC/laptop keyboards. Over one billion have shipped over the last 50 years. The second is predictive text, which rose to prominence along with SMS services on mobile keypads. Three billion phones have shipped in the past ten years using this technology. Swype is poised to become the third foundational platform for next five billion future touch and remote screen devices.

I really would like to see a better interface for text input on screens. I get really wound up by the fact that the QWERTY layout was originally intended to prevent keys from jamming in a mechanical typewriter. Why are we still using it?

Well. It’s, er, a little obvious. We’re … stuck with it for the time being.

I’m very interested to see what Swype have dreamt up though. If it’s anything like as smart as T9, it could be brilliant.