One for the TX-files - ThumbboardDA
If you own a TX today’s posting will be something to both surprise and delight. It almost totally revolutionizes your Palm and makes the TX even more Iphone-like. I usually say one of the best things about a free program is the fact that it’s free but in this case it may be the program itself. I saw this on Palmaddict so forgive me if you have seen this one before. The program just came out about a week ago, so this is a relatively new offering. What is it? The best way I can think to describe it is by saying to you “Do you know those full screen pda devices with a slider keyboard?” Well, imagine that instead of a slider there was a virtual keyboard on the screen and you’d have a pretty good idea of what the ThumbboardDA does. I have used it and it is simply awesome and oh yes free. I even have an authentic Zire 72 picture after the “more” link. The product screenshot does not do it justice as it looks all scrunched up and you don’t get a sense of what is possible in landscape mode.
The other thing you need to know about this program is that it has macros. Yes, macros! What does that mean? It means you can enter in frequently used phrases that you can insert with a couple of taps. This is certainly much better than doing the shortcut stroke on with your stylus. ThumbboardDA also has an ergonomic audible click so you know you’ve made contact with each of the keys. The keys are certainly large enough to make text entry a breeze.
If you’ve got a large screen Palm you can pick this up for free by clicking here
Now before you head over there you need an additional piece of software to get it to work - a DA Launcher. A DA Launcher allows you to open up this program on top of other programs. You can also get this at the same freeware site just by clicking here.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Hmmm…I haven’t tried it yet as there’s no “eye-candy”. I use the keyboard DIA’s from various sites which offer a variety of skins. I also use Pruss’ excellent software, myKbd. I’ve referred to it in the past and it’s a good ‘ol app. Thanks for the heads-up on this one, though.
April 20th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
I am so happy to get this. I used a Psion for years which had a slide out keyboard. I reluctantly went to palm to get software. now with all the software i have i love it and now with this keyboard - ….’scuse me….i’m getting’ all misty……
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I’m glad you like it!
/Peter Thorstenson
author of tejpWriter and thumbboardDA
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:27 pm
i tried this, but I don’t like it much. You can only use it with something like memo. You CANNOT use it with docs to go, with is a big downside, esp. considering that’s where I would type the most.