Palm changes software for 'more natural' writing

By Rachel Konrad
Associated Press

Palm announced yesterday that devices shipped later this year will come with a new handwriting recognition system, called "Graffiti 2 powered by Jot."

The Sunnyvale-based company developed the new system with programmers at Redwood Shores-based Communication Intelligence Corp.

The original Graffiti, still used on the majority of Palm handhelds, requires users to learn an alphabet developed specifically for entering data into a small screen. To write a "t," a user must write an upside-down "L." An "f" is the mirror image of that upside-down "L."

The system, although efficient in its use of one-stroke letters, often infuriates new users.

The new system will use two or more strokes for some letters, similar to natural handwriting. For example, "t" will be two crossbar strokes.

"It's more natural, especially for someone who's never picked up a handheld," said Michael Higashi, a director of marketing at PalmSource Inc., which builds Palm's operating system. "That's good because we see this market in its young state, and ... by removing that barrier, people can be immediately productive on a Palm handheld."

Microsoft also uses a handwriting system created by Communication Intelligence Corp. for its PocketPC handhelds.

Graffiti 2 may get Palm out of a six-year legal battle. Xerox sued Palm in 1997, claiming that Palm derived Graffiti from a Xerox patent for computerized handwriting. A federal judge dismissed the case, but Xerox won a reversal. A federal appeals court heard the case Jan. 6 but has not yet issued a ruling.

Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said the lawsuit enticed Palm to start looking for alternative handwriting systems, but the company picked Graffiti 2 because people in focus groups liked it more than Palm's original.