Thursday 28 April 2016

Microsoft Debuts Word Flow Keyboard


Microsoft Surfaces the Word Flow Keyboard On iOS in US.

According to a recent report by Mac Rumors, it has been confirmed that Microsoft Corporation has come up with Word Flow Windows Phone Keyboard in the form of an iOS app.  This app can be bought from the US version of the App Store. Initially, the app was designed solely for the Windows Phone devices but now the app has surfaced to the iOS users in the United States.

The software has various core features such as the “next word prediction”. Along with that the keyboard also flaunts an “Arc mode” which is designed in a manner that makes typing from one hand easier. The mode in discussion allows the user to type on a curve, a minimally circular keyboard and then tilting the keys on the typing hand of the user. There are numerous settings for the keyboard which can be enabled such as letting users keep a note of their typing speeds.  This also helps in keeping tabs on the use and then continues to practice typing through an intriguing swipe to type mechanism.

Moreover users also get the option of customizing their keyboard. The Windows giant has given the option to put a user’s image as the background which will make the input device more personalized. Moreover, users can also choose from a broad range of themes as per their preference and then giving the Flow keyboard an extremely personal feel.

At this point of time, MSFT recent addition to the keyboard devices is just limited to the United States. However, it will soon surface in the European region as well. it needs to be taken into consideration that Garage division of the tech giant has succeeded in coming up with a successful product that belongs to the experimental development platform. it is also being assumed that there is high probability that MSFT may have purposely decided to just launch the product in the United States so that they can get a feedback on the product and then later it is surfaced across the globe.

When one traces the company’s acquisition of Swiftkey for $250 million back in February, it looks like the word prediction functionality is majorly inspired by the initial keyboard maker’s present capabilities. Microsoft also made a decision to integrate the technology of Swiftkeys in its own products, thus the company’s range of iOS keyboards will make the competition extremely stringent for competition. It is also said that they might just become direct rivals to Apple’s keyboard offerings.

Many analysts are of the view that the decision by Microsoft to come up with a modern keyboard for iOS is driven by the success of the initially experimented keyboard devices such as Hub to attract the Apple variants. Through this endeavor, the company might be able to tap on a larger consumer base by making sure that the Word Flow is suitable with other third party applications. The move is strategic and will help the company expand its consumer base in the long run.

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