We have plenty of people here who love them some SwiftKey. It is one of the top alternative keyboard choices for Android alongside Swype and FlextT9. SwiftKey has just announced that they have saved users a combined 10 billion keystrokes thanks to their word-predicting engine. And to celebrate, are giving away tablets, launches of trial applications, and support for six new languages.

If you want to get in on the fun, and happen to be a SwiftKey user, then follow these easy instructions to enter yourself in to win a Vizio tablet.

To enter the drawing, SwiftKey users are being asked to tweet how many keystrokes they have saved – a stat available in their app’s settings – along with the hashtag #SKX10bn. And for Android users yet to try SwiftKey, the company has just launched two new free trial apps, so users can give the award-winning technology a shot and then submit their tweet. One winner will then be randomly chosen and contacted via direct message at the end of each day.

If you choose to enter, then good luck to you. I would love for people to put down in the comment section how many keystrokes they have saved. Are Droid Life readers anywhere near at least a billion?

Via: SwiftKey, SwiftKey Twitter

We had heard yesterday that the newest version of Swype, that included gestures, would be headed to handsets other than the Nexus S 4G some time in the coming days; that time is now.  If you are a part of Swype’s beta program, you should have received an email concerning the update within the last couple of minutes with instructions on how to get all set up.

If you didn’t we have posted the instructions for you below:

How do I update?

You have two options for updating…

1. If you have SwypeInstaller on your device, just uninstall any previous version of Swype BETA then launch the SwypeInstaller. It will update itself and guide you through getting the newest version of Swype. Make sure you choose one of the PRE-RELEASE downloads to get this new version!

2. If you DON’T have SwypeInstaller on your device, download the new Swype Installer & Beta here. (By downloading the Swype Installer you agree to Swype’s Terms and Conditions.) Make sure you uninstall any previous versions of Swype first!

What is all included in the update?  

If all you Swypers have been waiting for an update to your keyboards, then start checking your Swype Installer this week. Word from Swype HQ is that updates will begin rolling out soon (hopefully tomorrow), and it will bring your Swype version to the same that runs on Sprint’s Nexus S 4G. Unfortunately, it is said to lack the black sexy skin that Sprint’s version rocks so well.

Thankfully, we have an unofficial word from an official member of Swype’s team that everything in these updates will soon be leaning towards custom skinning ability. Why this has been such a hard thing for them to implement beats us, but later is better than never. No word on official changelog yet, but once we get the press release, we will be sure to post it.

Everyone still rocking Swype, or have you moved on to bigger and better things? Let us know.

Via: Android Police

If things seem to be a little quiet on the Swype front these days, it is probably because they have been working extra hard behind the scenes with carriers and phone manufacturers to introduce a handful of new features.  Sprint Nexus S 4G owners have the opportunity to download a new version (3.25.91) today, before the general public.  The Swype team has added in gestures to make for easy copy, cut, and selecting, as well as a way to quickly launch some of your favorite apps like Twitter, Facebook and Google Maps.

The plan is to roll this out to NS4G owners first (download here) and then make it available to everyone in their beta program “soon.”

What are your current thoughts on Swype?  Was certainly one of the top keyboards of 2010, but now we have so many incredible options to choose from like Swiftkey, FlexT9 and A.I.Type.

Everyone here definitely has their own opinions on what their favorite keyboard is. Whether it be Swype, FlexT9, Swiftkey, etc, each one of those has their certain niche which works for individual people. Well, TouchPal thinks you’re all wrong, but it isn’t entirely your fault. You just don’t know about their awesome new input system yet. 

UPDATE:  The 3.0 update is now available. Enjoy and let us know what you think.

Swype just got done announcing version 3.0, bringing with it some very neat features including tablet support, tap correction, and horizontal word choice. After looking for it on the Swype site, we couldn’t find anything, so we checked in with our contact over there – Community Relations guru, Brian Resnik who had this to say:

So, we’re going through some last minute checks to make sure everything is rock solid before we push the new version live.  This is a big launch for us, and we want to make sure all of the problems people have had in the past have been duly addressed.  Particularly, we’re making sure that the annoying “license failed on reboot” bug is permanently squashed.  We’re currently uploading the latest packages to our servers, switching the website over to the latest version, and doing a final round of testing before we flip the switch and start pushing out the new version.  All said, we should have v3.0 ready to download in about 1-2 hours

He also handed us a very nifty video which showcases all of 3.0′s new features presented by Swype’s Director of Product Development, Brian Yee. You can check it out after the jump.   

A big ol’ Swype Beta update has been released.  What’s in store?  Nothing that you’ll notice from afar, but they did toss in a whole bunch of performance enhancements and fix a boatload of bugs.  They also added support for a variety of new screen types like the qHD you’ll find on the Atrix and BIONIC.  Other than that, your overall experience will be the winner here.

All of the new dirty details are below.  

This letter doesn’t come as much of a surprise since we’ve had plenty of conversations concerning this subject with Swype ourselves, but this list is as good as it gets for guidelines as to how they want their keyboard app to be treated throughout our enormous community.  Overall, Swype wants to embrace the massive amount of developers that Android has, as long as they are developing for a phone that would normally ship with Swype on it, of course.  And that’s really what their guidelines come down to; you can develop for and skin Swype all over the place as long as the version matches the one that shipped with the phone originally.  There shouldn’t be unlocking of the beta program version and no one should be stealing pre-loaded versions and including them in say, HTC devices, or they will be in violation.

Check out their letter to XDA after the break.