Minuum For Android Wear; A Useful Smartwatch Keyboard

When we last saw Minuum talking Android Wear, their concept was a spectacular rendering of how the round face of a Moto 360 could make typing on the tiny screen easier. Sadly, we quickly learned that concept would never work, but a new video released by the company holds promise. This time, concept gives way to reality.

Minuum was always meant for this, almost a harbinger of things to come. Since its days of crowdfunding, Minuum has been looked to as the defacto option for those times when a "normal" keyboard just won't work. Android Wear — and smartwatches in general — is just that; a time when QWERTY utility just isn't effective.

Minuum, however, makes quick work of the small screen, using a series of swipes and zooming animations to help you along the way. It's the first time we've looked to a smartwatch as an option for sending messages sans voice.

Let's also be realistic that voice-texting is a great option, but not always useful. There are times you don't want everyone around you listening in on a message; the point of text-based messaging is to remain private from the outside world.

Minuum may not have wowed the world on a smartphone, but its found a home on Android Wear, and could be the first native keyboard that is both usable, and makes sense. Check out the video below, where Minuum is shown off on the two existing Android Wear devices. While we're still waiting to see how they'll handle a round screen, this at least gives us all hope that typing on the tiniest of screens might end up being useful.