The application developer CooTek has launched its newest version of the popular TouchPal Keyboard. Their new version has made available as a free download to Android users and will soon be made available for Apple users using the iOS platform.

The TouchPal application is the only free application that allows for user to use the swipe technology that is found on many of the new Samsung smartphones. The application also allows for text prediction, according to the context of the writing, and has extendable plug-ins for both the Android users and the iOS users.

The swipe technology allows users to drag their letters from letter to letter, without removing their finger from the screen while typing a word. The predictive text will determine the possible words, in order to save some time typing. The contextual part of the predictive text learns the individual user’s style and frequently used words, in order to better predict what the user is swiping. If the user is an Android user, it will also draw from words used on Twitter and SMS messages to better predict which words the user is attempting to type.

The TouchPal Keyboard has many other unique features that it is capable of performing. One feature that people with big hands will appreciate is that the keyboard will be much larger than any other keyboard application using a QWERTY-style keyboard. The TouchPal Keyboard will also feature quick number and symbol input and “blind” typing, where it will correct misspelled words, according to the keys that were used and the context in which it was written. There are numerous plug-ins that can be used, such as using a Twitter plug-in, located in the toolbar, which will allow users to swipe directly on to their Twitter account. 

There are currently eighteen different languages that are acceptable on the application, with more expected to be added shortly.