If you're interested in trying out a new way to conduct your mobile searches, then Google is happy to oblige you. The company today announced Handwrite, a way for mobile users to conduct searches on their phone or tablet by writing out letters with their finger rather than typing characters out on a keyboard. Once enabled, users can navigate to google.com, tap the Handwrite icon in the lower right corner of their display and then write out the letters of their search anywhere on the screen. Users can also choose to tap the search box to type with a keyboard. Handwrite is compatible iOS devices running iOS 5 and up as well as Android phones running 2.3 or higher and tablets on 4.0 or higher. Google adds that Handwrite is experimental and that it works better in some browsers than others, adding that the feature works best in Chrome.
After playing with Handwrite for a minute or two on an iPhone, the feature seemed to work fairly well, only making one or two errors when I wrote letters at a fairly steep angle. Google says that Handwrite can recognize 27 different languages, and while my high school Spanish is a tad rusty, the few words I tried were recognized. If you've got a compatible device, you can give Handwrite a go yourself by hitting up google.com and then heading into the "Settings" option at the bottom of a phone's display or by click on the gear icon on a tablet. We've got a brief promo video available below. If you decide to give Handwrite a shot, tell us how it goes for you in the comments below!
