T9, which stands for Text on 9 keys, is a patented predictive text

Predictive text

Predictive text is an input technology used where one key or button represents many letters, such as on mobile phones and in accessibility technologies. Each key press results in a prediction rather than repeatedly sequencing through the same group of "letters" it represents, in the same,...

 technology for mobile phone

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

s, originally developed by Tegic Communications

Tegic

Tegic was a predictive text company based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was acquired by AOL on December 3, 1999, and subsequently, on August 24, 2007, acquired by Nuance Communications, whereafter it ceased to exist as a separate company....

, now part of Nuance Communications

Nuance Communications

Nuance Communications is a multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, that provides speech and imaging applications...

.

T9 is used on phones from LG

LG Group

LG Corp. is the second-largest South Korean conglomerate company following Samsung, and it is headquartered in the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. LG produces electronics, chemicals, and telecommunications products and operates subsidiaries like LG Electronics, LG Display,...

, NEC

NEC

, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....

, Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

, Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...

, Siemens

Siemens AG

Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....

, Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....

, Sanyo

Sanyo

is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....

, Sagem

SAGEM

SAGEM was a major French company involved in defence electronics, consumer electronics and communication systems.In 2005, Sagem merged with SNECMA to form SAFRAN...

 and others. It was also used by Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...

 PDA

PDA

A PDA is most commonly a Personal digital assistant, also known as a Personal data assistant, a mobile electronic device.PDA may also refer to:In science, medicine and technology:...

 Avigo during the late '90s. Its main competitors are iTap

ITap

iTap is a predictive text technology for mobile phones, developed by Motorola as a competitor to T9. It was designed as a replacement for the old letter mappings on phones to help with word entry. This makes some of the modern mobile phones features like text messaging and note-taking easier.When...

 created by Motorola

Motorola Mobile Devices

Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. , formerly the Mobile Devices division of Motorola Inc. until January 2011, is a communications corporation headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Motorola's networks division pioneered the flip phone with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s...

, SureType created by RIM

Research In Motion

Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...

, Eatoni's LetterWise

LetterWise

LetterWise is a patented predictive text entry system keypads on handheld devices developed by Eatoni Ergonomics.- Design :Unlike other predictive text entry systems, LetterWise does not depend on a dictionary, allowing the user to type anything, yet with very high efficiency...

 and WordWise

WordWise

WordWise is a patented predictive text entry system for keypads on hand held devices developed by Eatoni Ergonomics. It has an efficient mode that uses LetterWise rather than multi-tap....

, and Intelab's Tauto.
T9's objective is to make it easier to type text messages.