I guess when I see their product, I don't see a keyboard. I see a cool widget, and I don't mean that in a demeaning way at all, it seems really interesting. In a perfect world, it would be nice to generalize the widget out so it can have multiple applications.
That's not to say the value of the product doesn't lie in the keyboard research they did as well. Anyone can design a cool widget, but the idea to recognize a very innovative solution to mobile typing and perfecting it (figure-8 drawing is a great touch, assuming it works well on many phrases) is 8pen's strongest point. I just hope there is enough flexibility after the patent is issued so I or someone else can write a generalized form of this widget.
That's not to say the value of the product doesn't lie in the keyboard research they did as well. Anyone can design a cool widget, but the idea to recognize a very innovative solution to mobile typing and perfecting it (figure-8 drawing is a great touch, assuming it works well on many phrases) is 8pen's strongest point. I just hope there is enough flexibility after the patent is issued so I or someone else can write a generalized form of this widget.