Can anyone tell me if at some point the hand recognitiion system will work better? I don't know why they include such a feature that is just a hassle to use...

I use it all the time, and it works great. In fact I'm writing this with the stylus.

It is important to write non-overlaping separate letters. They don't have to be pretty but they must be well spaced. You can always write on top of what you have already written to correct mistakes.

Also, use the dictionary and the completions at the bottom of the input area to speed up writing.

I think it's actually a bit of both. The recognition could be improved for sure. But I also found my own handwriting at the start was really quite poor - I had to learn how to write on the screen. It's different to writing on paper, say, more slippy. I know that if I showed what I'd written to another human when I first started using the device they wouldn't be able to understand either!

When the dictionary works it's pretty sweet, unfortunately they don't always cover all the words used in my wine tasting notes I assume clicking on the word that is built up would add it to the dictionary but that doesn't appear to work.

I'm now at the point where I find it "acceptable" rather than good. It just takes a little practice.

Well thanks for your help... It didn't seem all that bad to me but it wasn't very good either.. I only tried it for a few minutes so I'm sure if I work with it I'll get used to it.. but don't you think Nokia could still make some improvements? I mean if you look at a lot of tablets how do their handwriting recognition compare? So do either of you have any idea how Nokia could make it better?

I'm not sure if the recognition trains to your handwriting or not. If it doesn't I'd imagine that would be useful, with the ability to switch back to "standard" recognition.

I don't really know how it compares. All I can compare it to is Palm Grafitti, which it is better than (imo) both in terms of learning it and ongoing speed.

Hey,

I love(d) the handwriting system (until OS 2006's huge FS Keyboard came out), but it took a while to figure out what the deal was. Once I did figure out how to make it work well, I feel like I can fly! It is possible to write quicky and accurately, if you want to spend the time training it properly.

Here are my observations on how to do that:

1) There must be clear spaces between letters. Small case letters should be drawn down near to the bottom line, or slightly under it, and capitals drawn up in the air a ways. Symbols are drawn by clicking on the ABC1 button the left and quickly drawing your symbol and then switching back. Numbers can be drawn anywhere, but the far right side appears to be set up for them to be drawn in.

2) If you are using the setting "auto-complete" then you MUST click on the word at the bottom once you complete each word. Trying to write out a whole sentence will produce garbage because the system is trying to figure out words on a word-by-word basis. SO... while writing your word with auto complete on, you must complete each word by clicking on it at the bottom! IE: Begin handwriting each word. Say I'm writing two words: "handwriting wizard".... say the first time I write the first word "handwriting", the word is not in the user dictionary yet, so it does not recognize this word... You begin writing.... "h a n d w r i t i n g" .... NOW, at the bottom you will see the 770 trying to help you finish the word.... if you then try to go on to "w i z a r d" it will produce garbage. Instead, even though the word "handwriting" now already exists in the window, reach down and tap the whole word anyway. That word then:

A) is automatically added to the user dictionary (and can only be added in this this way) and a space is added if you have this option selected, and the next word you are trying to write will now be recognized way better (not as garbage).

B) goes away and the draw window is reset (ready to be used for the next word)

NOTE: If you want to write out whole sentences, you need to turn off auto-completion mode. It will then somehow be able to read the whole line you've entered at one time, instead of trying to auto-complete and turn each word into a mess of garbage. Rule of thumb: auto complete mode is word by word basis only. If you want full sentences, turn off auto-complete.

Configuring Your Glyphs to Be Different From Similar Shapes
Shapes like "l" (lowercase L) or 1 (the # one) need to be drawn differently to keep from being confused. I draw my "l" normal, but my # one I draw with all 3 parts (the top 45 angle line, the verticle line down, and the horizontal line across the bottom. My 1's never fails this way.

The "i" I draw WITH the dot above it... that seems to work perfectly.

All of my own macros (the 16 slots we get to assign ourself) I use two letters for every shape. For example, for my my password macro, I use "pw" all in cursive, both letters connected. It works every time. For my email address, I write "sd" It works without flaw. For any shape that conflicts with any other letter, I draw that shape funny. Sometimes my b's uses to conflict with my 6's cause of the way I draw them. now I add a line shooting out of the bottom of my b's like so " b_ " all in cursive, connected... it makes sense cursively because at the end of drawing the b, you're hand is already in line with the ... line. Now, my b's never fail.

With all of my tricks, I can get the handwriting recognition system to recognize my handwriting nearly every time. I'm serious. Yes, I have to be patient, yes, I have to write slower and more clearly... not scribble, so yes, I have had to make some adjustments, but in all actuality, my penmanship in REAL LIFE has gotten better as a result of this discipline.

However, the new 2006 OS' FS keyboard is so much faster to use, I have quit using the handwriting mode altogether. It's just too much faster two-handed typing.... although I hate not having my 16 macros... which is why I submitted the idea for a hybrid mode...

This could be called the "hybrid handwriting" mode:
You click on a pre-defined hardware key and one of the non-essential onscreen keys of the keyboard turns into a small drawing space... you draw your shape and it turns back into the letter it was and inserts your macro into the text area. The handwriting system has potential, and I don't believe it should be scrapped. I believe it should be built on, and turned into a Macro system for the entire OS. I have a post on that in the Developer's section.

TEACHING:
When teaching the symbols, don't write it like you're supposed to write the symbols and letters, etc... write it like you're GOING to write it when you're in a hurry trying to do something. Write it sloppy, like you do on the fly. If you write a perfect letter in the TEACH mode window and then subsequently write your usual SLOPPY style on the fly for actual use, it won't recognize it. TEACH it as sloppy as you normally write, and it works awesome!

SETTING UP MACROS:
There are up to 18(or 16?) user-defined shortcuts you can create. Here are some examples of what I've done:

http://www. (= a shape like a capital U rotated left 90 degrees) This helps me setup for the middle part where the usual name goes (google, yahoo, insert whatever).... I draw the left-rotated U shape and bam... http://www. is automatically inserted.

.com (= a gesture that looks like a C with a 3 cursively attached to it, so I write my C3 cursively and .com is added automatically) The same designation (N3) for .net and (O3) for .org and such. Always use two letters and it works so much better!

@yahoo.com (= a cursive gesture that looks like a "Y3" (without quotes)).... Now I can fill out my stuff easily on forms and such....

You get the idea now... you can draw whatever wierd or cool or unsual shape comes to mind to recall a string of text you want to be ready to enter. Using these macros, I write out an entire URL in like 5 wrist movements* and I'm done with it. It's just awesome.

*Examples:

(left-rotated U shape)+google+c3
= {http://www.}{google}{.com} resulting in http://www.google.com

"Fill in the following information to sign up for an account:"

Name:________Address:________Username:________Pass word:
{ce}{ad}{u1}{pw} where each { } is placed in the fields above and automatically populates each one with your macro. You just filled in the whole page in like 7 seconds! Tell me that isn't awesome?!

Hope this helps someone.

Later.

ooOOoops, did I accidentally bump this? shameful... just shameful....