The shortcomings listed with the G1 and Android seems to be getting handled rather quickly and the latest bit of news is some of the most well received.
Sometime in the first quarter of next year (Q1 ‘09), Android will be
updated to include a soft keyboard. On top of that, there ought to be
the standard fare of predictive text and suggestions. This will bring
the total number of input options to at least 4 counting physical
QWERTY, touch screen, and trackball.
This will play well with the one-handed texters as it eliminates the need to flip open the phone to type.
Input method framework (IMF) This
feature will enable support for input methods other than physical
keyboards, for example soft keyboards. IMF will also enable application developers to provide IME (see below) applications based on the framework.
Input method engines (IME) IME will support soft
keyboards, a dictionary of suggestions, and a suggestion algorithm. The
Android platform may contain few reference IMEs, and developers can
provide IME applications through the Android Market.
