A keyless keyboard for smartphones and tablets on show at Mobile World Congress

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Physical, slide out and virtual keyboards are a thing of the past says SnapKeys, a company that has developed a keyless keyboard for smartphones and tablets of the future.

"[O]ur mission [is] to introduce a radically intuitive method of interacting with all mobile and computing devices," says Benjamin Ghassabian, CEO of SnapKeys Limited.

The invisible SnapKeys 2i text and data entry system works by assigning six or seven letters to four different regions on the touchscreen (two regions on each side of the screen).

Users tap these invisible regions with their thumbs to type while the software predicts the words. The SnapKeys 2i entry system works in the same way that a mobile phone with t9 text prediction determines which letters to enter when you type using the numerical keypad.

SnapKeys 2i users are initially shown the location of the keys but quickly learn to type "blind," says SnapKeys in a February 7 press release.

SnapKeys's keyless keyboard has been more than ten years in the making and overcomes two critical user issues encountered when using traditional QWERTY keyboards on compact mobile devices.

Firstly, it frees up more space on the screen by not covering half of the display surface, and secondly, the Snapkeys keyless keyboard reduces the "clumsy typing experience" because unlike traditional smartphone keyboards that have small keys crammed onto the screen or display, there are only four regions to be mapped on the screen.

A video of the keyboard in action can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28KEVi5rbcs

SnapKeys 2i typing system will be on display in hall 4.1 in booth #4.1 HS01 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona February 14-17.