Nationwide Typing Competition to Award $2,000 Grand Prize to Fastest Typist; Final Bout to Take Place at SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas
AUSTIN, TEXAS (November 11, 2009) – Das Keyboard has launched its search for the nation’s fastest fingers on a keyboard, announcing today the launch of the first-ever Ultimate Typing Championship.
From geeks and gamers to soccer moms and plumbers, the Ultimate Typing Championship (UTC) is an opportunity for individuals to prove they have the fiercest typing skills around. Conceived by the makers of the award-winning Das Keyboard, the UTC will award $2,000 to the competition’s fastest typist—a person who also will receive the distinct honor of being crowned as the nation’s first Ultimate Typing Champion.
“Typing may not yet be considered a competitive sport, but we think that perception will start to change once everyone begins to experience the intensity that this competition promises to deliver,” said Daniel Guermeur, founder of Das Keyboard and brainchild of the Ultimate Typing Championship. “We expect to see competitors sweating like gladiators engaged in the heat of battle. And even though trash talking is perfectly acceptable, we really prefer that participants let their keystrokes do the talking for them.”
Competing in the UTC
The UTC is open to individuals who are at least 18-years-old and legal residents of the United States at the time that they register for the competition. The general UTC online competition runs through December 31, followed by a semi-final “Round of Six” that happens online in early January 2010. The final round will take place in person at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, during which two individuals will compete head-to-head for the grand prize and UTC crown.
An online typing application called TyprX was created specifically for the UTC and will be used to conduct the competition’s typing races. The application tracks an individual’s progress as they type through a random paragraph of text, then calculates their final words-per-minute (WPM) typing speed once they’ve completed a race. Individuals can take a typing test as many times as they’d like during the general UTC online competition. Top race results will be shared on the UTC website’s leader board in near real-time, enabling participants to track their performance and keep a close eye on their competition.
“People are going to get hooked once they start competing in the UTC,” added Guermeur. “Their fingers will ache; they’ll dream about winning; they’ll become attached to their keyboards like they never have before. Let the typing begin, and may the best typist win!”
For more details on the Ultimate Typing Championship and to participate in the competition, please visit www.ultimatetypingchampionship.com.