January/February 1996
Newton Software Review
Graffiti 2.0
Approaching perfection
The terrific new printed text recognizer developed by Apple for the Newton
OS 2.0 nicely leapfrogs over any other recognizer in speed and accuracy.
However nice it may be, there is no replacement for a gesture-based text
entry system for entering long passages into your Newton.
Graffiti is the original and still the best of breed among gesture recognizers.
Many in the press have called Graffiti the first "killer app"
for PDAs. More than 20,000 copies of the Newton version have been sold since
its introduction in November 1994, and Graffiti is available for Magic Cap,
Microsoft Windows (unreleased to date), and is built into the new Hewlett-Packard
OmniGo PDA. Graffiti has even spawned a mini-market in shareware add-on
enhancements. The folks at Palm Computing (a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics)
have obviously been paying attention to these enhancements, as a number
of them have been incorporated into the new Graffiti 2.0, a version specifically
designed for Newton 2.0 devices.
Seamless integration with Newton 2.0
Graffiti 2.0 is completely and seamlessly integrated into the new operating
system. For example, whenever you tap the keyboard button, up pops the Graffiti
window. To access the normal QWERTY keyboard you must tap the info (i) button
in the window and tap the Typewriter option. Instead of shrinking down to
an annoying little floating icon when you are through with it, Graffiti
2.0 just closes, period. To bring it back you simply double-tap anywhere
text entry is allowed or tap the keyboard icon again.
You can also choose between a slightly larger normal window, or a small
window that is uses 30% less screen real estate. I find the small layout
completely adequate for my writing style. The manual even mentions that
you can drag and park the small window "underneath" the Undo,
Find, and Assist permanent buttons silk-screened along the bottom right
of the Newton. Doing this actually masks these buttons' functions with the
Graffiti window so you can write directly on top of them, thus using no
screen space at all! The disadvantages to this technique is that you obviously
lose access to those masked buttons, and you can't see what you write in
the entry window. Zero footprint, 100% accurate text entry!
Another welcome enhancement is the vastly more elegant design of the window
itself. The Easy Numbers option divides the window horizontally so you Graffiti
will recognize text on the left side and numbers on the right side. This
is very handy for entering part numbers, street addresses, etc. There is
also a clever new smart-shifting feature which automatically capitalizes
words where common usage would dictate that a capital letter be used.
50% faster
The new Graffiti engine has been optimized for Newton 2.0, and boasts a
speed improvement of 50%. I didn't time it, but I will say that it actually
feels faster than that in daily usage. One of the most pleasant surprises
of using Newton 2.0 is that the system does not bog down after you load
a dozen applications, a few autoparts, Pocket Quicken with six months of
transactions, and a loaded 4MB memory card with more than two years worth
of data into it. The old computer science adage that any database works
great if you have only fifty records in it doesn't seem to apply to Newton
2.0.
Graffiti 2.0 approaches perfect suitability to task. The only imaginable
improvements would be a system-level option allowing the Graffiti engine
to operate anywhere on the Newton without having to write in the entry window
(as in the current OmniGo implementation) and a gesture training option
for letters users have difficulty with. Graffiti 1.0 is still available
for users of the previous MessagePads for $59. Graffiti 1.0 users who upgrade
to Newton 2.0 can upgrade to the latest Graffiti for $29.
Category: Handwriting recognizer
Cost/Contact: $79, Palm Computing 800-881-PALM
System needs: Newton 2.0 hardware
Pen Computing
Issue #8