Due to a lawsuit from Xerox, Palm is abandoning Graffiti (its handwriting-recognition system).
PalmSource, the operating system subsidiary of Palm, Inc., announced today that future versions of Palm OS will not contain Graffiti. Rather, they will incorporate a modified version of Communication Intelligence Corporation's Jot handwriting recognition software, something it’s calling Graffiti 2 powered by Jot.
The impetus for the switch appears to be legal rather than technical. In April 1997, Xerox sued Palm, claiming that Graffiti was essentially derived from its patented Unistrokes technology. Unistrokes, or “Unistrokes for Computerized Interpretation of Handwriting”, as it is referred to in Xerox’s 1997 patent, is a system of text-entry using single-stroke symbols for computerized recognition of handwritten text. […]
So, presumably, the next Palms will have Jot. And, looking over the character guide, it doesn’t seem that bad. Most of it is actually very similar to Graffiti already, and probably only a few characters would be tough for me to un-learn (such as q/u/v, along with all the brand-new editing commands).
I’m pleased, though, that Jot supports writing on top of the main desktop area, as Palm always seemed confined to writing within its own little Graffiti-only area.
(Link from Slashdot)