Key to Fast Texting - QWERTY Keypad Wins Nathan Schwartz $50,000

By Editor Wireless and Mobile News on July 11, 2008 10:40 AM

While some mobile phone lovers lusted over the iPhone 3G that does not have a real keyboard, texters tapped out phrases in quick time during The Second Annual LG National Texting Competition.

Beating more than 15,000 entrants, Nathan Schwartz, a 20-year-old Clyde, Ohio resident, is the faster texter and winner of $50,000 in prize money. In one minute, he texted 154 mixed characters including punctuation.

The winning phrase was "Does everybody here know the alphabet? Let's text. Here it goes...AbcDeFghiJKlmNoPQrStuvWXy & Z! Now I know my A-B-C's, next time won't you text with me?" The contestants used any LG phones that featured full QWERTY keypads including the enV2, enV and Voyager.

"When I heard that I won I just wanted to scream," said winner Nathan Schwartz. "I called my mom as the confetti was falling on stage. I am really looking forward to spending some of that prize money and I think it will be fun to tell all of my friends and family that I am the fastest texter in the country!"

The expanded qualifying rounds and MTV component included in this year's texting competition brought in some serious challengers as well as edge-of-your-seat excitement throughout the competition. With double the prize money of last year's competition it's no wonder that the intensity of the event was unprecedented.

In similar fashion to last years competition, contestants were asked to type out phrases on their LG handsets exactly as they appeared on an overhead LG plasma screens without typos or abbreviations. The first contestant to complete their phrase accurately would advance to the next round until Schwartz took home the gold.

The contest took place in the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The competition was free and open to anyone that had an activated LG phone.