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WordSmith 2.01
WordSmith, written by QuikSense Software and published through Blue Nomad Software (Blue Nomad wrote the desktop components), is by far the largest program of those reviewed here. A whopping 459 KB, this behemoth does far more than just DOC reading, most of which will be covered in Part 2. WordSmith is intended to act as a DOC reader, DOC editor, word processor (using RTF or MS Word files), and Memo Pad replacement. For now, though, we'll just look at the reading functions.
WordSmith uses a standard List View / Details View setup. The list view includes 2 tabs, one for DOC files and WordSmith RTF files and one for Memos. There is support for categories in both cases, and you can begin writing the name of a DOC to jump to it, the same way you can in Address book.
 | WordSmith's list view
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The DOC list includes the size of each document. Tapping on the title of a DOC will open it, while tapping just to the left of it will bring up a popup list with options to Edit, Beam, Delete, Duplicate, Rename, Categorize, Print (using PrintBoy from Bachmann Software or InStep Print from The Instep Group, if you have one or the other installed), or get Details of the file.
WordSmith lets you display the document using three different font sizes. You can scroll through the document using the hard scroll buttons or a scroll wheel, and the program also supports a very nice smooth auto scrolling feature. A retractable toolbar across the bottom lets you switch between auto scroll, tap-paging, and "tap and drag" navigation, and you can also switch in and out of Edit mode. There is also a "Take a Break" feature that pauses the auto scroll after a user-specified number of minutes to remind you to rest your eyes.
WordSmith 2.0 now supports bookmarks, but while many - if not most - DOC files do not have bookmarks, WordSmith also lets you jump to any given paragraph in the document via a pop-up list that shows the beginning of every paragraph. This feature can be a huge time-saver, especially in large documents. WordSmith also supports the quarter VGA screen on the HandEra 330 as well as the 320x320 screen on the Sony CLIE.
Other nice features include private and masked records, and the ability to require a password to use the program if it has been inactive for a user-defined period.
WordSmith's most impressive feature, however, is the new FineType algorithm. FineType, like Microsoft's ClearType, is a sub-pixel rendering technique that works only on color screens. In short, it takes advantage of the fact that a color pixel is really three thin red, green, and blue pixels to create sharper black and white lines, giving the illusion of 3 times the horizontal resolution (but not vertical resolution). Gibson Research has an excellent article on How sub-pixel rendering works and the History of this particular technique.
On a Palm IIIc, m505, or Visor Prism, you have the illusion of a 480x160 screen when viewing black and white text. That considerably improves the readability of the document, giving crisper diagonal lines and better character spacing (kerning). On the IIIc, though, if you look at the screen from the left or right you will see a green-shift or purple-shift in the text due to the wide pixel spacing on the IIIc. The m505 does not have this problem.
 | WordSmith's normal view includes many options, all of which can be hidden for greater reading area
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The real impact of FineType, however, is on the CLIE PEG-N710C and PEG-N610C. There, the effective resolution is 960x320 for the text itself. While that number is not entirely accurate (a real 960x320 screen would be even sharper), the effect is almost paper-like sharpness. A Palm m505 with FineType was about on-par with the non-ClearType font on an HP Jornada 545. A CLIE PEG-N710C with FineType, however, bested Microsoft Reader with ClearType on a Compaq iPAQ H3650 for clarity.
Additionally, there is limited anti-aliasing support for non-color devices, but the difference is not as substantial as the FineType on color devices.
The downside of WordSmith is that it's big. It also requires a lot of RAM to open DOCs, because it must first uncompress the entire document into RAM to render it. Although it works with transparent loaders, that means you need to have somewhat more space free than the file is big, regardless of whether the DOC is in RAM or on a memory card. That's necessary for some of the advanced features we will cover in Part 2, but if you just want a DOC reader they can get in the way.
WordSmith is sold through Blue Nomad's website. A trial download is available that loses its editing functions after 200 uses, but remains a fully functional reader forever. Registration is 39.95 US$, although a promotional discount of 29.95 US$is currently available.
Conclusion
- What's positive: High-resolution support, FineType sub-pixel rendering, jump to paragraph
- What's negative: Huge executable, needs lots of RAM for opening DOCs, price
Overall: 
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