There's been a little confusion over Swype, the finger-sliding keyboard that has proven to be quite popular on Android (in unreleased beta form) and on Windows Mobile. The software made its way onto blog posts and forums, gained popularity, and then was quickly pulled. (And, yes, we know some of you were sanctioned in the forums because of it and a little confusion on our part.) Today, Swype explained the reasoning in an AndroidCentral post. Here's an excerpt:
"One might ask why we don't just release it ourselves and save everyone the hassle? The reason is that we have spent seven years building Swype and we want to try to make a living selling our software. Our current business model is OEM licensing. We do plan to get to direct-to-consumer distribution but it is a different sort of business with unique challenges and thus it is hard to say when.So far we have released Swype on the Samsung Omnia II on the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform and we have a number of Android device launches as well as some additional mobile OS launches coming up soon. Because our partners are highly sensitive about their product releases we really cannot say anything further."
We're reposting the entire statement after the break.
Hi everyone,
We would like to provide an update regarding the unauthorized distribution of our Swype software for the Android platform. We realize that many sites are now distributing this software and several are providing installation instructions.
We are glad that you like Swype, but we did not release or leak it for distribution and do not support any downloadable versions . More specifically, any current versions of the Swype software for the Android platform were distributed to business partners or journalists and were done so under Non-Disclosure Agreements or a EULA, and with a time-out feature.
One might ask why we don't just release it ourselves and save everyone the hassle? The reason is that we have spent seven years building Swype and we want to try to make a living selling our software. Our current business model is OEM licensing. We do plan to get to direct-to-consumer distribution but it is a different sort of business with unique challenges and thus it is hard to say when.
So far we have released Swype on the Samsung Omnia II on the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform and we have a number of Android device launches as well as some additional mobile OS launches coming up soon. Because our partners are highly sensitive about their product releases we really cannot say anything further.
Stay tuned at www.swype.com and look for a better, more feature complete, and legal version coming soon to a phone near you.
Regards,
The Swype Team
PS. Our lawyer has asked us to remind everyone that Swype does not explicitly or implicitly condone the unauthorized copying and distribution of the Swype software and to inform you that the Swype software is proprietary to Swype, Inc., is the copyrighted work of Swype, Inc., and Swype, Inc. has and always will reserve all of its rights.
