From the scanner mouse to the multi-purpose Smartpen
A few weeks ago we wrote a post about LG’s Scanner Mouse, and introduced the world’s first mouse which doubles as a scanner. This week we thought that we would keep with the innovation of simple office tools and share the new Smartpen Echo from Livescribe. The Smartpen allows its users to capture every word, diagram, scribble, symbol, and audio. This can then be transferred straight to your PC or laptop.
So, how does it work? When used with its special paper, it records what it writes.1 This allows the user to upload all of the recorded data to a computer at a later date, and also synchronizes those notes with any audio it has been recording. This means that when you are sitting in a meeting, you no longer have to write down the speaker’s notes as well as your own. This gives you more time to build upon your own business strategy and ideas while they are fresh in your mind during a meeting. You can playback the audio at a later date by syncing it to the Livecribe Desktop software.
This is not the only advantage of the Smartpen. It also has the added bonus of “Livescribe Connect” that lets you send notes and audio with ease as a pencast by email, to Google Docs2, Facebook, Evernote, or mobile device3 all from your paper. This is useful for sharing your notes digitally and keeping your entire team up to date on all the new developments of your business on the move.
The Smartpen has a range of customisable applications that can help the productivity of your work, decreasing the scale of time you have to put towards each of your day to day tasks, giving you more time to plan and the execute the next step of your business plan. The dictionary app is an addition that proves to be a real time saver as well as saving you the tedious task of having to constantly check over your own work for mistakes. The games are also fun for a five minute stress buster during a lunch break.
What feature sounds the most appealing to you?
1 Livescribe paper required. Don’t record without permission. 2 Email and Google Docs connectors are available only with Livescribe Connect Premium. 3 Mobile device access requires Pencast Player App or Flash®- enabled web browser.
Loading ...
I think these is a great idea and when I first saw the idea a few years ago thought it had some good possibilities.
But now with the rise of Netbook’s and Tablets I think it might have meet it’s day.
If the OCR on the pen is good enough then yes it will make for a more portable option. But I don’t want to be having to check the OCR output of what I have written.
A Netbook or Tablet will let me do the same job and have more features to hand.
All in all it’s a great idea, but I think the cost needs to be looked at to make it a replacement for taking my Netbook around with me. I can pick up a cheap tablet for less than the cost of one of these pens and thats where I think the problem is.
Thank you for your wonderful post! It has long been incredibly beneficial.
I hope that you will proceed sharing your wisdom with us.