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There’s a better way to type on TVs, and it’s based on old-school phones

T9 is so back.

Those long and / or scrambled on-screen keyboards are both a nuisance to use, and a real problem for anyone wanting to make stuff for your TV. But he tells me Direction9 is now in talks with companies to get its keyboard into streaming apps and on smart TVs; for the moment, though, it’s still pure vaporware. It’s not a perfect system, and it certainly has a learning curve that your average on-screen row of letters doesn’t, but it’s the fastest I’ve ever typed on a TV.

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