SureType - Learn To Love It

So you have a new Pearl , or you’re considering a switch to a Pearl, and the first thing you notice is that tiny keyboard.  “How in the world will I type on that itty bitty thing?”, you wonder.  Or perhaps you’re now having flashbacks of using T9 word (note: you can only have those flashbacks if you actually used a cell phone for texting…and I did not).

Welcome to the wonderful world of SureType on a BlackBerry device!  For those of you that don’t know what SureType is, RIM defines it as “innovative keyboard technology that supports the advanced messaging features that serious users require. Through an integrated keyboard and software system, SureType effectively combines a traditional phone keypad and a familiar QWERTY-based keyboard to create an efficient and familiar typing experience.”

Most people I know (and I know a lot) are a little scared/concerned/terrified of having to learn SureType.  But have no fear, SureType is there to learn from you, not the other way around.  Ok, so it does take a bit of getting used to, and you have to train it a bit, but once you get the hang of it you may find you like it better than a full keyboard.  Believe it or not, I can type faster on a SureType keyboard than I can on a full QWERTY keyboard.

So what’s the secret?  The most important thing I tell the users I support (and that includes you BlackBerryForums readers) is do not look at the keyboard as you’re typing - at least until you get to the end of a word or phrase/sentence.  As you’re typing (and spelling definatelyh counts!) the SureType technology will ‘translate’ the keystrokes to the word you want (about 95% of the time, anyway). 

How does it do that?  Well, it starts out with over 35,000 words in it’s little SureType brain, and it is constantly adding to that list as you send and receive emails.  The device also automatically ‘learns’ from your Address Book so the names of all your dear friends will be easier to type as well.

Try this simple test to type the word ‘run’: press ER, then UI, then BN, and then press the Space key.  If the word doesn’t appear correctly, or there is more than 1 word for that key combination, you should see a list of available words (before you press the Space bar, that is).  You can then scroll to the right to highlight the word you want and then press the Space bar.  If you’ve pressed Space and have the wrong word, just use the Delete key to back up.

Speaking of those key combination’s that produce more than 1 word - there are several of them.  Words like ’see’ and ‘are’, or ‘guy’ and ‘hit’ (along with some that I won’t print!).  The frequency with which you type a word will determine if that word is the first one offered to you as you type.  For example, if you type ’see see see’ (3 times seems to be the charm), the next time you type that key combination you should get ’see’ as the first choice.  So if you want ‘are’ next time, you’ll have to scroll over to select it.

As mentioned in a previous BlackBerryNews article, you will want to occasionally clean out your Custom Dictionary/Wordlist (Options -> Custom Dictionary).  It is possible for your device to learn words you don’t want it to learn (much like a small child learning swear words).  If you type a word and get an off the wall suggestion (’ygat’, for ‘that’), it’s time to prune the Custom Dictionary.

For unique words or phrases that your device doesn’t recognize, you may wish to switch to Multi-Tap typing.  Multi-tap is just that - you have to press the key multiple times (ok, just twice) to get the 2nd letter on the key.  This is especially helpful for typing user ID’s and passwords (although many password fields will automatically force you to type in Multi-Tap). 

To switch between SureType and Multi-Tap mode you can either hold down the * key (this works for 71xx models) or you can also press the Menu button then click ‘Enable Multitap’ or ‘Enable SureType’.  When you’re in Multi-Tap mode, you’ll see ‘ABC’ in the top-right corner of the screen.

SureType is great if you give it a chance - but you really do have to give it a chance.  I will admit it’s not for everyone, but it’s really a great technology (and WAY better than T9!).

Written by BlackBerryForums.com Moderator Juwaack68