I just returned from the Symbian Smartphone Show in London. Nestled among the exhibitors showing off their coolest software on the coolest phone hardware were a couple of N770's on a hands-on display. I was naturally sucked in.

The vendor was Tegic -- the maker of T9 software that enables typing words quickly on mobile phones through the numeric keypad. I'm sure many of you have seen/used it. The display was showing off a new product -- XT9 -- on phones and several N770's. It looked great, was very fast, and recognized all the crappy handwriting I threw at it. I was intentionally bad, and it still figured out what I wanted, while giving me very educated guesses as I wrote my words. Just like T9 on a mobile phone.

So I pestered several sales droids at the booth about getting the software so I could run it. Finally, one said: "You can't get the software. It should be a part of the OS in..." and she turned to a Nokia rep next to her "...2007. Right?" At which point, the Nokia guy just smiled and said "I can't say."

Is new handwriting recognition on the way for OS2007? If it is XT9 like the demo I used, it would be BIG stuff! What an improvement!

You can find out more about XT9 at Tegic's Web site: http://www.tegic.com/products/xt9.asp. Nothing I can read mentions the 770, but we can always hope.

Anyone else hear anything?

-F