Livescribe smartpens

By Fiona Keating on May 31st 2011

If you have ever wished for a magic pen which digitally captures everything that people hear and write, then the Livescribe smartpen could be the writing instrument you’ve been waiting for. Harry Potter might have his wand, but the ordinary mortal can simply tap anywhere on handwritten notes in a Livescribe notebook, on a computer, or a mobile device. You can quickly send pencasts from paper to applications, such as email, Google Docs, Facebook, Evernote or even their mobile devices, including the Apple iPad and iPhone.

The device not only makes it simple to share handwritten notes and recorded audio, as interactive pencasts, but also makes it possible for anyone to interact with the information as a Pencast PDF. The Pencast PDF leverages Adobe’s ubiquitous, business-standard PDF format – now anyone with the free Adobe Reader® 10 or higher can easily hear, see and share an interactive Pencast PDF. Click here to playback a Pencast PDF.

To use Livescribe Connect, you simply draws a line and writes the name of the desired destination, for instance “Evernote” or “Facebook,” then taps the pages or circles sections of a page to send. The next time the smartpen is docked to a computer, the notes and audio are automatically sent as a pencast.

In addition, it offers a range of useful features like a calculator, translator, and a paper piano that plays a mini piano you draw on paper.

The Livescribe is a godsend for anyone who takes copious notes and keeps losing them, as you can upload these into Livescribe's Desktop software, which archives your notes according to the notebook they were written in and the page it was on. Just imagine, never losing important documents ever again!

However, in this gadget-based age, many people tend to stick to using their phones or mobile gadgets for jotting down notes. But for those who are still keen on pen and paper, the most useful aspect of the Livescribe is in its flexibility. It’s great for students, journalists (who can write and record notes at the same time), as well as architects, and musicians.

In the UK, the 2GB Echo smartpen starter pack, a new 4GB smartpen (£149.99) and the existing 8GB smartpen (£179.99).

Livescribe smartpens

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