Method and system for providing word recommendations for text input

A computer program product for use in conjunction with a portable communications device, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:

• instructions for receiving a sequence of input characters from a keyboard, wherein the keyboard has a predefined layout of characters with each character in the layout having one or more neighbor characters;
• instructions for generating a set of strings from at least a subset of the sequence of input characters, the set of strings comprising permutations of respective input characters in the subset of the sequence and neighbor characters of the respective input characters on the layout of the keyboard;
• instructions for identifying in a dictionary one or more candidate words, each candidate word having a string in the set of strings as a prefix;
• instructions for scoring the candidate words;
• instructions for selecting a subset of the candidate words based on predefined criteria;
• and
• instructions for presenting the subset of the candidate words.

A portable communications device, comprising:

• a display;
• a keyboard, the keyboard having a predefined layout of characters with each character in the layout having one or more neighbor characters;
• one or more processors;
• memory;
• and
• a program, wherein the program is stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the program including:
• instructions for receiving a sequence of input characters from the keyboard;
• instructions for generating a set of strings from at least a subset of the sequence of input characters, the set of strings comprising permutations of respective input characters in the subset of the sequence and neighbor characters of the respective input characters on the layout of the keyboard;
• instructions for identifying in a dictionary one or more candidate words, each candidate word having a string in the set of strings as a prefix;
• instructions for scoring the candidate words;
• instructions for selecting a subset of the candidate words based on predefined criteria;
• and
• instructions for presenting the subset of the candidate words.

A portable communications device, comprising:

• display means;
• input means, the input means having a predefined layout of characters, each character in the layout having one or more neighbor characters;
• one or more processor means;
• memory means;
• and
• a program mechanism, wherein the program mechanism is stored in the memory means and configured to be executed by the one or more processors means, the program mechanism including:
• instructions for receiving a sequence of input characters from the input means;
• instructions for generating a set of strings from at least a subset of the sequence of input characters, the set of strings comprising permutations of respective input characters in the subset of the sequence and neighbor characters of the respective input characters on the layout of the input means;
• instructions for identifying in a dictionary one or more candidate words, each candidate word having a string in the set of strings as a prefix;
• instructions for scoring the candidate words;
• instructions for selecting a subset of the candidate words based on predefined criteria;
• and
• instructions for presenting the subset of the candidate words.

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• receiving a sequence of individual touch points input by a user that form a user-input directed graph;
• comparing the user-input directed graph to respective directed graphs for words in a dictionary;
• generating a list of candidate words based at least in part on the comparing step;
• and
• presenting at least some of the candidate words to the user.

A computer program product for use in conjunction with a portable communications device, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:

• instructions for receiving a sequence of individual touch points input by a user that form a user-input directed graph;
• instructions for comparing the user-input directed graph to respective directed graphs for words in a dictionary;
• instructions for generating a list of candidate words based at least in part on the comparing step;
• and
• instructions for presenting at least some of the candidate words to the user.

A portable communications device, comprising:

• a display;
• a keyboard;
• one or more processors;
• memory;
• and
• a program, wherein the program is stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the program including:
• instructions for receiving a sequence of individual touch points input by a user that form a user-input directed graph;
• instructions for comparing the user-input directed graph to respective directed graphs for words in a dictionary;
• instructions for generating a list of candidate words based at least in part on the comparing step;
• and
• instructions for presenting at least some of the candidate words to the user.

A portable communications device, comprising:

• means for receiving a sequence of individual touch points input by a user that form a user-input directed graph;
• means for comparing the user-input directed graph to respective directed graphs for words in a dictionary;
• means for generating a list of candidate words based at least in part on the comparing step;
• and
• means for presenting at least some of the candidate words to the user.