Appletell

Developed by Hanwang.com.cn, HWPen is a new third-party application availible for jailbroken iPhones and iPod Touches.  This handwriting recognition app can understand both English and Chinese language input, but it is still in beta so I imagine more language support will be coming as it progresses.  You can find a full forum discussion about this app at modmyifone and can install it by adding “iphonecake.com/src/all” as a source on Installer.app.

I’m sure you all remember Apple’s infamous Newton product that came with handwriting recognition, and I’m guessing the service is a lot better on an iPhone than a Newton.  At least I hope so because I don’t think we want another Simpson’s episode about the iPhone.  Let us know what this application is like if you have installed it and whether or not it is worth downloading.

Do you like to write? Do you like hands? Do you like handwriting recognition? If so, Apple wants you to be working for them, as the company is now hiring people who would help advance and improve the handwriting recognition technology in Mac OS X. But wait, it doesn’t end there. Apple might even want to use your amazing skills to embed handwriting recognition into the iPhone.

Apple has always been behind in the field of handwriting recognition, so it makes sense that they would need someone to fix it up. The Newton is a great example. One of the first truly functional PDA’s, the Newton was one of the first in the world to use handwriting recognition technology. Sadly, the engine behind all of that fancy recognition wasn’t that great, which led to a bunch of bad press, and even a mention in The Simpsons. This technology was actually brought right to Mac OS X under the name “Inkwell”, which requires a graphics tablet to be attached.

In the end, we don’t know what this means. It could mean a multi-touch, touchscreen Mac, or it could just mean a better Inkwell.

Via [MacRumors]