Screen shots posted on Chinese site wretch.cc allege that iPhone firmware 2.0 has added support for Chinese handwriting recognition in addition to a revamped (albeit non-recognition) Japanese interface. While that's still light years from an Apple admission that not everyone is in love with the on-screen keyboard, it's one small step toward functionality that seems to make boatloads of sense -- in any language -- given the phone's generously proportioned touchscreen and its reluctant but unavoidable nomination as the Newton's spiritual successor. What isn't clear is how folks are expected to draw characters, seeing how there's no provision for an on-board stylus, the entire interface is designed for finger use, and we don't see many owner rushing out for a Pogo. However Apple intends for this feature to be used, the implementation looks pretty hot, capable of operating in both portrait and landscape modes. Sadly, it seems that Chinese is the one and only language supported at the moment; sure you don't want to let everyone in on the Graffiti-esque retro fun here, guys?

[Via Mac Rumors]

At first glance, the new Sony Ericsson Z558 looks like nothing more than a rehash of the Z550 geared toward the Chinese market. By and large, that's an accurate assessment, save for one critical detail: the new model packs a touch screen and stylus for handwriting recognition -- a feature that seems like overkill for Latin characters, but thinking about Chinese puts things in an entirely different perspective. Much like the Nokia 6108 before it, the Z558 sports handwriting recognition for the sole purpose of making life a little easier on folks whose languages are composed of thousands of characters (though as you can see from the press photo, you can write in English too, if you're into that sort of thing). Other features include a 1.3-megapixel cam, 18MB of internal memory expandable to 1GB via Memory Stick Micro cards, and a 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz GSM radio with EDGE; look for it in Z558c and Z558i variants for mainland China and the rest of the world, respectively.

[Via Slashphone]

Okay, okay, maybe we went a little rough on Pantech's SKY IM-R100 on the first go around, panning it for offering nothing of particular value in its bizarre pivot-slide form factor. It turns out we missed one important detail: the IM-R100 will be Pantech's first handset to integrate Oki's FaceSensingEngine, a relatively lightweight face recognition system that's supposedly well-suited to devices with limited memory and processor power. Oki claims that faces can be locked onto in 115 milliseconds and tracked in just 35 in a variety of indoor and outdoor lighting situations. For their part, Pantech is initially using the system to automatically center the camera when taking pictures, but we have to assume there are some gaming applications to be found here as well. So again, IM-R100, we're sorry for beating up on ya the first time around; lesson learned.

[Via Slashphone]