Google adds Handwrite to mobile search input

SOFTWARE HOUSE Google has added a handwriting feature to its mobile search input on touchscreen devices.

Imaginatively named Google Handwrite, the nifty new beta feature allows users to scribble search queries on Google's homepage using their fingers.

Handwrite enables you to search by just writing letters with your finger most anywhere on your device's touchscreen.

"Handwrite enables you to search by just writing letters with your finger most anywhere on your device's screen - there's no keyboard that covers half of the screen and no need for hunt-and-peck typing," Google software engineer Rui Ueyama wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

"We designed Handwrite to complement rather than replace typin,: with the feature enabled, you can still use the keyboard at any time by tapping on the search box."

The feature is available in 27 languages and works on Apple devices running IOS 5 and higher, smartphones running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and higher, and tablets running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and higher.

To get the feature up and running in your mobile browser, tap on "Settings" at the bottom of the screen and enable "Handwrite".

Google warned that the beta feature will work better in some web browsers than others, but to avoid mistakes, it recommends writing search queries in straight block letters.

Google also announced the rollout of its fibre-optic "Google Fiber" service across Kansis City today, a super-fast 1Gbit/s internet service that promises to be the fastest on the planet. µ