Developers like PhatWare Corporation have scrambled to update their software for this changing market. Phatware's upgraded its handwriting recognition software CalliGrapher to version 8.2 for square-screen Windows Mobile devices today.

PhatWare President Stan Miasnikov tells PDAStreet, "By optimizing CalliGrapher for latest models of Pocket PCs and Smartphones, including devices with square screen, we provide our customers with a natural and efficient way to enter data."

Calligrapher is heir to PhatWare Transcriber: Bundled with previous Microsoft wireless operating systems, Transcriber got bumped from Windows Mobile 5.0—which delivers enhanced support for square displays—to make room in ROM, according to the company. No hard feelings on PhatWare's part, however.

Since "Windows Mobile 5.0 was designed to provide mobile device users with increased platform flexibility, improved productivity and easier access to critical data. We've made our software compatible with the new operating system in order to bring a powerful and personalized multimedia experience to our customers," Miasnikov says.

CalliGrapher converts pen strokes into text, allowing users to use write naturally—through fuzzy logic and neural net techniques—and recognizing arbitrary alphanumeric strings as well as words contained in its integrated dictionary. Graffiti and even Graffit2, by contrast, rely on predetermined strokes of the stylus to settle on what characters have been entered.

The Windows Mobile-based Treo700w ships without a handwriting reconnection, but Palm promotes CalliGrapher as an option on a bundled CD for those who prefer that feature. And while many device vendors have implemented QWERTY thumb-keyboards, few have matched the comfort and usability of RIM BlackBerry for ergonomics and usability.

"By using CalliGrapher to enter handwritten data on mobile devices, its users avoid ergonomic stresses associated with hard keyboards and the slow tapping with soft keyboards. CalliGrapher will prove especially beneficial to users of Palm's Windows Treo because it does not have a built-in handwriting recognition software," according to Miasnikov.

Phatware also enhanced the CalliGrapher Statistical Analyzer, a feature that learns a user's writing habits and automatically fixes common recognition errors based his patterns.

CalliGrapher 8.2 sells for $39.95. It is a free upgrade for users of version 8.0 or later, and is $24.95 to owners of previous versions