Microsoft buys SwiftKey

Microsoft had acquired British based software keyboard maker SwiftKey and it would be integrated with the tech giant “intelligent systems” for mobile devices. SwiftKey makes keyboard apps which are used on some 300 million Android and Apple devices, replacing the default interfaces with a more efficient one.

SwiftKey, which uses artificial intelligence to help make keystrokes more intuitive and efficient, expands Microsoft efforts in the domain. SwiftKey estimates that its users have saved nearly 10 trillion keystrokes, across 100 languages, saving more than 100,000 years in combined typing time. Microsoft would continue to make the service available on all platforms not just those operated by Microsoft.

SwiftKey for most smartphone users comes through as just another third party keyboard app, an upgrade on the default keyboard that most platforms offer. But beyond the app and its user interface, what the company offers, and something that makes it attractive for the likes of Microsoft, is the very technology that powers the app, artificial Intelligence or AI. Its predictive technology learns from the user’s personal writing style, on the basis of previous usage of text, chat messages or social media interactions, and predicts the next word or phrase that the user intends to type.