The Samsung SCH-i425, or better known as the Godiva, appeared in its first set of pictures this morning. The device, which some were expecting to be the next in the Stratosphere line since the model number matched up to previous Strato models, may not be all that similar after all. Notice anything missing from the phone? Yep, that would be a physical slideout keyboard.

Other than the missing keyboard, we should be looking at a HD (720p) display, NFC sensor inside the back cover, and an Android version of 4.1.2. It’ll likely be an ultra-affordable 4G LTE device for those not willing to pony up $200+ for the latest and greatest Android device.

No official word from Verizon on name or release date, but if it’s in the wild like this, it may not be far off. Plus, Big Red has yet to announce anything for Q1, so we should be hearing and seeing something very soon. 

Swiftkey Flow beta is now available to everyone! The gesture or Swype-style version of Swiftkey’s keyboard, brings a few new tricks to the table that others have yet to fully or even think about implementing. First, it predicts on the fly, so that you can see for yourself what word you are attempting to type. But beyond that, Flow allows you to write out entire sentences without lifting your finger, simply by dropping down to the spacebar in between words. So far, it seems like a fantastic update, once you get used to it. 

As the Verizon version of the Galaxy Note 2 started to arrive in customers hands this week, many were quick to point out the fact that “Swiftkey Flow” was listed in the keyboard settings. As we wrote earlier, Flow is the newest keyboard from Swiftkey that will enter beta testing in the very near future. It’s very much like the new Android 4.2 keyboard, which has gesture typing that predicts in real-time. With the 4.2 keyboard, and the beta version of Swiftkey Flow, both change the predicted word as you swipe between letters. It’s very cool.

The version of Flow on the Note 2 is not even close to being the same. Sure, it allows you to swipe between words, just like Swype has done in the past. However, it does not predict in real-time, but instead offers suggestions after you have fully swiped a word. It works, but the new beta version is what you should all be excited about. We have two videos below to show you the difference. 

If you are looking to install the Android 4.2 keyboard onto any of your devices, this is now the easiest way to do it. Thanks to a 3rd party dev, the keyboard, and all of its swiping goodness, is now on Google Play for the easiest installing and applying possible.

Go grab it and try it out if you haven’t already. We love it.

Play Link

Cheers Darrick!

If you’ve been trying as hard as me to make your phone look and feel as close to Android 4.2 as possible, then you’ve come to the right spot. Thanks to the hard work of gnufabio, we have the latest files pulled from the 4.2 system dump of the Nexus 4, and have installable Clock and Keyboard applications. We posted an earlier build of the keyboard, but this one is much faster and looks like the one that Hugo showed off on Monday. 

Hey, look! It’s the Android 4.2 keyboard pulled from a Nexus 4 dump! It’s probably an early build, hence the ugly white and blue floating word prediction, which is unlike the subtle floating word prediction that Hugo Barra showed off yesterday. No matter what though, it’s neat to use and it works well. It predicts on the fly, corrects as needed, and flows like butter. 

Swiftkey, one of the most popular Android keyboards, announced a new keyboard experience today, called Flow. As the name implies, Flow allows you to glide between keys so that you can type words without lifting up a finger. Before you jump in with the “This is like Swype!” comments, I recommend that you watch the video. Swiftkey’s version of swiping between keys comes off as being much more predictive than other options. During the video, Flow shows that it can predict words after you have swiped only a couple of letters. According to Swiftkey, it also stays top notch at normal typing for those rapid tappers out there.

There is going to be a beta release of Flow soon, so be sure to stop by Swiftkey’s site to sign up. 

Swype, who seemed to have been losing its edge in the keyboard game to Swiftkey around these parts, announced a major overhaul today that as you may expect, brings it inline with some of its strongest competitors. In this latest version, Swype predicts better and also learns from your emails, texts, and posts. It even includes a new 4-in-1 keyboard of sorts, meaning you can Swype words, rapidly type them key-for-key thanks to predictive text, speak using their Dragon button, or go as far as writing actual letters out with your fingertip.

It should be available at beta.swype.com for those itching to test it out, however, their site is completely overloaded. We’ll update this post as soon as it comes back.

Update:  The site appears to be back up, go download it!

Update 2:  Added video of the new Swype in action below.