Those who grew up in the pre-smartphone era vividly recall the days of mobile phones with numeric keypads. It was an era where every message was composed using the iconic T9 method, with our fingers learning to dance across the small keyboard. Back then, phones like the Nokia 3310 were the big stars, and we typed text messages at record speed, sometimes even without looking—just one hand under the table during class or at a family dinner. Typing messages with the phone hidden was an art form, thanks to the clever design of the keyboard and our ability to memorize the positions of the letters.
The magic of T9 lay in its simplicity: Each number had several letters assigned to it, and the intelligent system guessed the word we wanted to type based on the sequence of key presses. It was a sophisticated solution for the days of small screens and physical buttons. Now, Direction9 is bringing that same old nostalgia to life and upgrading it for the modern world, adapting it for smart TVs and streaming systems.
When you see their solution at CES 2025, it’s hard not to feel a pang of nostalgia for those days. Direction9 uses the same basic principle of T9: A 3x3 grid of numbers, with each button assigned multiple letters. But instead of a mobile phone, it’s happening on the TV screen using the remote control. The concept may be nostalgic, but the execution is innovative and tailored to today’s needs.
Direction9’s development:
The system includes a "smart" mode that tries to predict the words being typed. For example, pressing the keys "abc," "def," and "def" might produce the word "bed." For those who prefer more precise typing, the smart mode can be disabled, allowing users to select letters manually. Direction9’s CEO, Leon Chang, showcased an early version of this keyboard at last year’s CES. According to him, the company is currently in talks with various firms to integrate the keyboard into streaming applications and smart TVs. However, for now, it remains a concept in the development phase.