Textware Dom Perignon IV PDA Input Speed Contest

Posted By: Ryan Monday, November 1, 2004 11:08:23 AM

Textware Solutions is currently running their Dom Perignon IV Speed Contest. The contest seeks those who can enter data the fastest on a Palm OS or Pocket PC handheld, using a stylus. The Grand Prize winner in each category, will be awarded a prestigious bottle of Dom Perignon.

Publisher of the Fitaly alternative keyboard for the Palm and Pocket PC, Textware Solutions already held three Dom Perignon Speed Contests in 1998, 2000, and 2002. Past contest participants cruised at an average speed of 50 WPM, with contest winners approaching or even surpassing 80 WPM, and repeatedly providing a factual demonstration that doing fast text entry on a PDA is a realistic proposition.

PDA Input Speed Contest Entries to the Dom Perignon IV Speed Contest can be submitted with any application that uses a stylus for the entry of data on a Palm or Pocket PC device. This includes on-screen keyboards, keyboard overlays on the Graffiti area, as well as handwriting recognition programs. The use of shortcuts and word-completion or phrase-completion capabilities is not allowed.

Textware Solutions encourages everyone to participate, even if you presently do not use any of the above data entry solutions. Fully functional free trials of all of the Fitaly products are available for download on the fitaly.com site, and trial versions of other input methods are also available from PalmGear.

In addition to the Dom Perignon Grand Prizes, weekly prizes will be awarded to the best twenty entries of each week of the contest. Weekly prizes are provided by Textware Solutions and contest cosponsors AstraWare, Blue Nomad, NeoHand, Pocket Informant, QuikSense, SoftMaker, StylusCentral, and ValkSoft. For complete details, please visit the contest web page and the forum established for the contest results.

The current leader is the talented Jennth Orantia with 77 Words per minute, using Fitaly. Start tapping away as the contest ends soon. All entries must be received by November 6th.

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Wax on, wax off...

Strider_mt2k @ 11/1/2004 3:02:34 PM #

Better start doing your early morning stylus routine!

I hear the returning champion is sporting a new set of Chinese balanced Titanium competition styli that caused a big stir when they were declared a "grey area" in the 2003 competition. ;)

All for a bottle of booze...

Typo, Ryan!

dhchung @ 11/1/2004 4:39:57 PM #

http://www.fitaly.com/
not
http://www.fitality.com

RE: Typo, Ryan!

Admin @ 11/1/2004 5:37:33 PM #

thanks!

Not the best...

GregGaub @ 11/1/2004 4:42:51 PM #

While Fitaly might be the best stylus based input for PDAs, if we're to take their contest results at face value, it's not THE best, even according to their own contest. The 2003 contest, which is conveniently ignored in this news posting, and happily forgotten by Fitaly, was won by a gent using a Treo 180 thumb board. He STOMPED their highest WPM score on his Treo. Since then, they don't allow non-stylus input methods. I'm not dissing Fitaly, I think it's clever, though I don't use it. I'm just pointing out the irony of the 2003 contest is being pushed under the rug.
Click this URL before they decide it doesn't need to be on-line any more, hehe:
http://fitaly.com/domperignon/domperignon3.htm

-- SeaPUG: http://www.seapug.com --

RE: Not the best...

Calroth @ 11/1/2004 5:38:12 PM #

So... this contest is sponsored by the people who make Fitaly? No conflict of interest here?

RE: Not the best...

ackmondual @ 11/1/2004 6:21:29 PM #

This seems to be another 'shameless' promotion by the makers of Fitaly, but hey, they're awarding a bottle of booze for it. And in all fairness, quite a few ppl do find Fitaly to be fast. I can't believe they're stomping out keypads just b/c some1 was faster on it than Fitaly.

[signature0]the secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse[/signature0]
[signature1]My PDAs: Visor --> Visor Neo (blue) --> Zire 71.... so ends the "marathon", for now[/signature1]

RE: Not the best...

CarlJ @ 11/1/2004 6:26:58 PM #

The stated purpose of this series of contests, from the beginning, has been to find the fastest stylus-based input method for Palms. Yes, it's sponsored by the makers of Fitaly. Yes, they hope that people using their product will win, their goal being improve their product to the point where it's the best. They also seem to run a fair contest, I don't recall it having been challenged in the past. As far as a hardware keyboard "stomping" Fitaly in 2003, first place was 84wpm on a Treo thumboard, second place was 78.25wpm using Fitaly. I wouldn't call that "stomped," I'd call it a bit faster. Actually, I'd call both of them astonishingly fast. And no, they haven't deleted the page. For what it's worth, I've been running Fitaly since I got a free copy for participating in their very first contest, and I've been quite pleased with it (having since paid to upgrade to FitalyStamp on my now-old-school Clie N760).

RE: Not the best...

GregGaub @ 11/1/2004 10:15:21 PM #

It's the contest for the best "stylus based" input again, but it wasn't last year. Last year they specifically allowed thumboards as well. I think they were simply over confident that theirs was the best input method. And yes, the Treo guy DID "stomp" the competition. Look at all the best scores from other devices. They are all in the vicinity of a single WPM difference, sometimes 2. But the Treo guy STOMPED them all with a full 5.75 WPM above the best stylus based entries. Top that off with the fact the #3 was ANOTHER Treo thumboard entry.
Fitaly obviously didn't expect that kind of competition from thumboard users, so they pulled them from the contenders and limited entries to stylus based methods once again.
And hey, that's fine. Fitaly is still the winner of stylus based input methods. But as last year proved, against their hopes I believe, thumboards can be even more efficient than Fitaly.
Certainly, above even thumboards, are full sized keyboards. Alphasmart Dana, or an accessory, and a skilled typist can stomp the Treo guys. :)