FITALY is a
keyboard layout
A keyboard layout is any specific physical, visual or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key-meaning associations (respectively) of a computer keyboard, mobile phone, or other computer-controlled typographic keyboard.
is the actua ...
specifically optimized for
stylus or
touch-based input. The design places the most common letters closest to the centre to minimize distance travelled while entering a word. The name, FITALY, is derived from the letters occupying the second row in the layout (as QWERTY comes from the first row of standard keyboards).
In the first of several keyboards in the system, lowercase letters are arranged in the following pattern:
There are uppercase, numeric, and symbol keyboards as well, and various strokes (rather than taps) are used for both shifting case and selecting symbols. For details, see the manufacturer's site (below).
Fitaly was invented and patented by
Jean Ichbiah and is commercialised by the company he founded, Textware Solutions.
The aim of the design is to optimise text entry by organising keys to minimise key-to-key finger movement, allowing faster input through one-finger entry (compared to ten digits required to type efficiently on QWERTY layout). As compared to the three-row QWERTY keyboard, FITALY has five rows with at most six letters in a row (as opposed to the ten on QWERTY).
Keys are arranged based on individual frequencies of letters in the English language, and the probability of transitions. The ten letters at the very centre (i, t, a, l, n, e, d, o, r and s) are used 73% of the times when typing in English and with c, h, u and m added to the list, the number goes up to 84%. The user nearly always finds the next likely letter on a key very close to the one previously tapped.
Currently supported platforms are
Pocket PC /
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants.
Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...
, and
Windows Tablet PC. There was a version for the
Palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
. An
Android version is under consideration, but Barry Shaffer had a
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
Android port. That port is impractical for inserting text anywhere but after the last character of a document.
See also
*
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in part ...
*
HexInput
References
External links
Fitaly.comThe-gadgeteer.comEverything2.com
Keyboard layouts
Latin-script keyboard layouts
Touchscreens
Input methods for handheld devices
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