Palm Master App - As fast as a full size keyboard?
I first heard about this app in an article over at Palmaddict.com. Someone thought this little gem should be garnering more attention for its revolutionary take on text entry. You won’t find this on Palmgear and that may be one of the reasons some of you have not heard about it. This program kicks butt. It is unlike anything you’ve seen before. This app competes with the big boys. What do I mean by that? I mean this program will enable you to enter text on your Palm equal to or faster than you currently do with your keyboard. This program is nothing to sneeze at. It does it’s job and does it well. How does it work?
The best way to understand how this works is to view their onscreen flash demo tutorial. I will do my best to explain it in words here before providing the link to the tutorial. They split the keybord into six rectangular strips (3 on the left & 3 on the right). Each will have their own share of the letters on a keyboard. It then uses a general vocabulary of words to predict which letter from each strip will make up the word(s) you most likely would want to enter next.
In order to showcase their program in action, Tengo has these videos of asian girls/women talking about their use of it and demonstrating speeds of up to 75 words a minute. Yes, that’s right, 75 words per minute. If you bypass the awkward cuteness factor of the videos you’ll see that those speeds are possible. I don’t need to be that fast. If I could do 30 words a minute with one hand I’d be happy and I’m pretty sure most people would be too. Here is one of the videos they feature on their site as a You Tube video. This seems to have been converted to You Tube by Palminsider.com.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SgjnYx9mDM]
Okay, you’ve got my text explanation and you’ve seen the video. The best way to understand this is through the tutorial on their web site. When you hit through the steps wait a little bit for the animation to come up. When the repeat option comes up you can click next to go the next step unless of course you’d like to repeat the one you’ve just watched. Enjoy.
Note The program is designed to work only on certain versions of the Palm OS. Please check the requirements to see if yours fits the bill. If it does you will soon be able to do on your Palm with a stylus what you do on your computer with a keyboard.
UPDATE: To make this easy for everyone these are the devices NOT supported by Tengo - LifeDrive, T3 (ROM v5.2.1), Tapwave Zodiac, Treo, and the TX. I highly recommend downloading the installation instructions for your particular device and operating system. This will make sure it is properly installed so that if you do have problems it is not based on incorrect installation procedure. There are separate install instructions for Palm OS 4 and 5.
March 25th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I tried this on my old Zire 72s (not listed as an INcompatible device) and it crashed it. I now have a TX and I see that isn’t compatible. I’ve just discovered Alexander Pruss’ myKbd. Here’s an excerpt from their product details:
“myKbd lets you use hex keyboards on your Palm for fast text entry. myKbd includes the easy-to-use ATOMIK layout. The basic ATOMIK layout was computer-optimized by IBM researchers for speed of typing in English (45 words per minute for a proficient user) and speed of learning. (The myKbd developer is not affiliated with IBM.)”
The keyboards are uniquely formatted and takes some time committed to shorten the learning curve. I use this in conjunction with Text Complete which is a software that sort of resembles predictive text applications. But, instead of shaping words with every letter formation, it lists words as a menu off to the side and you pick the appropriate choice.
But, I’m pretty satisfied with Graffiti 2 and consider that a much faster option than the above. I only use the above when I’m in a patient mood. Slower, but less mistakes than using G2.
March 25th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Thank you for sharing your experience. I have a Zire 72 and have not experienced a crash. I think your suggestion seems like a good alternative for those who have a problem with Tengo or use palms that are not compatible. (I also have a TX myself)
I’ll update if I have similar experiences to yours. It would be interesting to here of other people’s experience as well.
Thank you.
March 25th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
This is slightly off-topic, but since we’re discussing writing/input methods, I must mention that the TX’s ability to show the writer’s strokes in the graffiti area has absolutely increased my proficiency in inputting characters. I can now immediately identify where I’ve made mistakes and make the necessary adjustments on-spot.
I know that there have been freeware that mimics this functionality but only if one inputs in the non-graffiti area. I’ve never been a fan of writing off-graffiti because I’ve always felt that it could jeopardize the integrity of the “viewing area” of the screen. However, if there’s a non-TX owner who would like to improve the accuracy of their writing which ultimately speeds up our inputting, then they can Google the freeware and give it a shot. (I’d like to find the link but its Sunday night and I need to do a little more kicking back before Monday hits).
Keep up the great work, Fox. You’ve done a great service in helping many of us increase our productivity in life and work!
March 29th, 2007 at 7:51 am
How does this compare to a palm device with a keyboard- e.g. the Treo 650?
March 29th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I don’t know but it is sure worth a test. I figure though that it may be less stressful on the thumbs as I know there is some thumb strain thing out there for people who repeatedly use there thumbs on portable devices.
I don’t know if it relates directly to Treos or hand held gaming devices. I don’t have a Treo just yet but when I do I hope to address Treo related topics as well.
PS - This only works on certain Palms and I don’t believe Palm Treos will work with it unless you have Windows Mobile on it.