Android OS to support touchscreen keyboard
The Android OS is now official and ready to bring Google's mobile platform to the world. The T-Mobile G1, with Android OS in tow, has barely left the starting gates and we're already seeing complaints roll in. As the first-run edition of a new mobile OS, Android was bound to need a little refinement.
Aside from the T-Mobile G1's battery-hungry nature, users are reportedly miffed at Android's lack of a virtual, on-screen keyboard. While the G1 sports a full-QWERTY keyboard hidden under the flick-out touchscreen, the lack of a touchscreen keyboard forces users to get at the physical keyboard for even the most menial text-input tasks.
Well, good news for T-Mobile G1 fans and Android hopefuls alike! The Android OS development roadmap now shows Input Method Framework (IMF) support in the near future. The IMF framework will allow for soft-keyboards and other non-physical data-input methods on Android. The new Android development roadmap also hints at integrated dictionaries that should allow for text-prediction and word suggestions when typing on the touchscreen keyboard.
The Android roadmap aims for a Q1 2009 release of the soft-keyboard feature. Things are looking good for Android!
