Saying hello is important

The simple greeting – just saying hello - is the glue that holds society together.  

It has always stood for co-operation and peace, as it creates a bond: before you say hello, you are strangers. Afterwards, you are friends, family, colleagues and more.

We can identify our friends by the way they say hello. It’s like a code. Sometimes it can be an elaborate performance. Sometimes it is just one carefully chosen word.

The Siines they are a-changing

Yesterday saw us release some cool new features for Siine Writer Pioneer Edition.

I’d like to say we celebrated by going out for cocktails but we contented ourselves by updating the Android Market page – you can see it here if you’re interested.

So what’s changed?

Let us introduce some new Siines

Call me

Can't talk

Email me

Kiss

Wassup

Let's talk

Skype me

Sorry

Thanks

Yo

An important note

If you download Siine Writer you may see a default note in your Android phone settings, warning that Siine Writer could be used to collect personal data.

Don’t worry. Siine will NEVER store or use your personal data unless you SPECIFICALLY allow us to (for example on the Installation Wizard). 

So why the note? 

Predictive text can only end in tears.

Speech is an incredibly complex thing. Some people even say it is what makes us human.

It’s an oddly comforting thought in this fast-moving world.

But what this means is that simulating speech is incredibly difficult. From Alan Turing in the 1950s, scientists have spent decades trying to make computers engage in intelligent conversation and have largely failed.

What is Siine Writer anyway?

So what is Siine Writer? And why are we so excited about it?

It’s a good question: for us the answer lies somewhere between “a touchscreen keyboard” and “the future of texting”.

“A touchscreen keyboard” – because that is what, fundamentally, Siine Writer is. Download it here (Android 2.2 and above, other phones coming soon) and you can use it for anything you might use your normal keyboard for: texting, emailing, accessing the internet etc.

Originality Bites – CEO Ed Maklouf kicks off our blog.

There is a hum of activity at the Siine office as we pull the wrappers off what we’ve been working on: Siine Writer.

It’s always exciting to be able to offer something new to people and the long days and nights that we have put in make ever more sense as we use Siine Writer for different situations and enjoy the results of our hard work.

As we test, too, one message always comes through – this is different, this is really original. But being different is a double-edged sword. It feels good to be working on something original but when people get their hands on it, “different” can be daunting. The keyboard is the most used interface on the mobile phone, so by definition people are used to it.