Just in time for the holidays, Livescribe is about to release their Smartpen for the Mac on November 24. The pen is about the size and weight of a large MontBlanc pen, with a microphone, a speaker, a small OLED display, and an internal computer chip that captures handwritten notes and drawings. Earlier in the year Livescribe came out with the Pulse Smartpen for the PC. The pen has the ability to record sound and synchronize the audio with written notes. Basically what the Smartpen does is record and link the audio to what you are writing, and making it possible to listen to what you recorded while you write. You are even able to search for keywords in your notes. This seems ideal for college students who like to take notes because if you forgot what your note was supposed to mean, you can click on the text and the audio will jump back to the exact moment in recording when you wrote that word. This would be useful to anyone who uses pen and paper frequently. However, to use the text and audio features, you have to use the pen with Livescribe’s dot paper that has points of reference for the audio. The paper has pre-printed controls on them that allow users to fast-forward and rewind the audio. For Mac users, the paper must be purchased from Livescribe but PC users will be able to print their own paper with Livescribe software for Windows 1.4, which will be available later this month. The pen has a variety of applications, including a built-in language translator that can translate English words into a many languages like Spanish and Mandarin.
The Smartpen has a 1GB model that sells for $149 and a 2GB model for $199.
http://www.macworld.com/article/136877/2008/11/pulsesmartpen.html?lsrc=top_3
- Annie Huang, Thursday 8am
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