Swype is one of the best soft-keyboards available for Android-powered devices. It's coming pre-packaged on phones from quite a few manufacturers — but isn't available for the general public just yet.

In case you don't know, Swype combines a traditional tap-to-input on-screen keyboard with a paradigm-shifting "swipe-to-input" method where you glide your finger across the keyboard between letters in the word, lifting your finger only between words.

Swype has been operating a closed beta for quite some time now, and one of the first things I do whenever I get a new phone to review is download and install my beta copy of the app (I just put it on the HTC Desire HD today).

According to Droid Life a source inside Swype Inc., speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated that a new version of the Swype Beta for Android is going through the last stages of internal testing and should be available the first week of November.

The update is said to resolve the majority of problems that users have reported at installation, fix some "accuracy issues" which were introduced in the last update, and some "more stuff". There's no word whether or not the voice-input "microphone" button will be included in this build or not.

If you've been accepted to the beta, watch your email box for a link to the update. For the rest of you, hold tight.

Source: Droid Life