» Review: TapSmart Handshare

Are you a Palm junkie like me?  Do you sometimes find it inconvenient to stop your work on the PC to pick up your Palm and work on it, independently of your PC work?

I know both of those apply to me.  Sure I have my desktop PIM application running for my Calendar, Tasks, Email, etc.  But what about all those other Palm applications I paid precious money for?

TapSmart HandShare has resolved this issue.  

I use my Palm continuously.  I also spend most of my day in front of my PC, so having to stop to work on my Palm isn't always very convenient.

With HandShare, you have access to (as far as I can tell), 100% of the Palm's functionality via your computer's  keyboard and mouse.  

This includes using the hard buttons, the 5-way navigator, enterering data, launching apps, and for smartphone users, even making phone calls.  Of course making the call, does require you pick up the phone to speak, or have a headset connected.  I DO have a bluetooth headset connected, so this is super convenient.

If you need to create screenshots of your Palm images, this is an extremely simply way to do it.  Just right-click-->Save Image.

Additionally, you can record a series of actions just as easily, which are saved as bmp files.  This is a great way to quickly prepare images for a presentation, or there is actually a presentation mode that blacks out the background, hides the hardware skin and shows only the Palm screen.

You can  also access your Palm's database list and view the file's attributes.

HandShare will connect to either USB, Bluetooth or Network.  Personally I use the USB, because I hotsync via bluetooth and use a Treo, which has no built-in WiFi connection. 

There is a very small delay between your action on the computer image vs that action happening on the device.  This delay is irrelevent with serial connection, and hardly noticeable with Bluetooth

The only other negative comment I have is I wish you could set it to be "Always on Top." 

I strongly recommend HandShare to anyone who is at their computer a lot, yet need their hanheld a lot as well.  Or if you have difficulty seeing the text on the Palm's screen, this greatly improves the legibility of text.

A similar product that MobilityWare offers is KeyLink.  It's very similar to HandShare, but gives you more PC functionality on the comuter image. 

TapSmart HandShare requires Palm OS 4® or OS 5 (Garnet), such as PalmOne Tungsten, Zire, and Treo 600 models, SONY Clie models, and other specialized handhelds such as the Garmin iQue 3600.

I can't believe I haven't tried this before now.