A chart of the Graffiti characters (full size)

Graffiti is the handwriting recognition software used in PDAs based on the Palm OS. Graffiti was originally written by Palm as an alternate recognition system for the Apple Newton MessagePad, when NewtonOS 1 couldn't recognize handwriting very well at all. Graffiti also runs on the Windows Mobile, where it is called "Block Recognizer," and on the Symbian UIQ platform as the default recognizer. Download high resolution version (577x1216, 49 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (577x1216, 49 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive intelligible written input. ... Palm IIIxe PDA Personal digital assistants (PDAs or palmtops) are handheld devices that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. ... Palm OS is an operating system made by PalmSource, Inc. ... The Newton was an early personal digital assistant (PDA) developed by Apple Computer and sold from 1993 to 1999. ... Windows Mobile is a compact operating system for mobile devices based on the Microsoft Win32 API. Devices which run Windows Mobile include Pocket PCs, Smartphones, and Portable Media Centers. ... Symbian OS is an operating system with associated libraries, user interface frameworks and reference implementations of common tools, produced by Symbian. ... A screenshot of UIQ 3. ...

The software is based primarily on a neography of upper-case characters that can be drawn blindly with a stylus on a touch-sensitive panel. Since the user typically cannot see the character as it is being drawn, complexities have been removed from four of the most difficult letters. "A'" "F", "K" and "T" all are drawn without any need to match up a cross-stroke. An artificial or constructed script (also conscript or neography) is a term for new writing systems specifically devised by specific known individuals, rather than having naturally evolved as part of a culture like a natural script. ...

The original Graffiti system was the subject of a lawsuit from Xerox, claiming it violated Xerox's patent relating to its Unistrokes technology (U.S. Patent 5,596,656, granted in 1997). During the original case, a court ruled that Palm violated Xerox's patent and ordered them to discontinue use of the original Graffiti system in further versions of its Palm OS software, which Palm did. It replaced the original Graffiti system with a licensed variant of the Jot system from CIC, which Palms refers to as Graffiti 2. Graffiti 2 differs from the original Graffiti system in various ways, though it does recognize some of the original keystrokes (except the input method for punctuation and "i", "k", "q", "t"). Xerox Corporation NYSE: XRX is the worlds largest document-management company, providing the industrys broadest range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies. ... The CIC is the Conseil International de la Chasse (in English, the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation). ... This page is about the Palm OS handwriting system. ... This page is about the Palm OS handwriting system. ...

Palm later appealed the original court ruling both on the claim it violated Xerox's patent and as to the validity of the patent in the first place. An appeals court ruled in favor of Xerox with regard to the original ruling that Palm had violated its patent but sent the case back down to the lower court to decide whether the patent was valid to begin with. In 2004, a judge ruled in favor of Palm, saying Xerox's patent was not valid on the basis that "prior art references anticipate and render obvious the claim."

External link

• Palms website on Palm OS handheld input

http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=5830