Smartpens Wise Up

What Can You Do With a Smartpen?

Typed text and video dominate the digital world, but much of the important stuff still gets done with handwriting and audible speech. Students scribble notes while listening to lectures. Business plans are mapped out on cocktail napkins. Fashion designs are doodled over coffee chat. All of that rough, static data would be more useful if it was digitized, indexed, integrated, and editable. Enter the smartpen.

For example, the word “address” written in a note about an upcoming meeting may be the only word you need to write down if you use a smartpen. Later, just tap the word “address” to hear yourself repeating the full street address as you made that brief note. The implications for lecture notes are obvious.

There are standalone smartpens, and smartpens that must be used in conjunction with other hardware. Some smartpens require special paper while others work with any writing surface.

Basic models transfer data to computers and tablets via USB cable, while others use WiFi to upload data to the cloud. Prices range from $100 to $200; some third-party smartpen apps may cost extra. Here are examples of the various breeds of smartpen:

Livescribe sells three smartpen models dubbed Echo, Sky WiFi, and Livescribe 3. Retail prices range from $119 to $199. The pen measures 5/8" in diameter by 6-1/8" long and incorporates a replaceable ballpoint ink cartridge, a microphone to record audio, a speaker for playback, a small OLED display, an infra-red camera, and internal flash memory to hold digitized handwritten notes and drawings, plus audio notes. Its battery is charged via an included micro-USB cable.

The Echo is an entry-level product that does basic recording and allows file transfers to computers via micro-USB cable. The Sky WiFi series integrates wireless data transfer and Evernote cloud storage. Livescribe 3 instantly syncs what you’re writing and what is heard to your iPad or iPhone. All three require special paper printed with a non-repeating pattern of dots that help the pen determine what page it’s on and where on the page it is.

The Equil JOT does not require special paper, but it records only handwriting not audio. It’s compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows. Instead of cramming processor and flash memory into a fat, heavy pen, the JOT is a comfortable, normal sized pen that communicates wirelessly with a slim little box perched at the top of your writing surface. Both devices fit into a trim carrying/recharging case. It cost $150.

The WACOM Inkling smartpen is similar to the Equil JOT, but it’s designed for sketches as well as handwritten words. One can create layers of drawings, annotate and edit them, enrich them with colors, and so on. The Inkling is integrated into the ASUS VivoTab Note 8, a Windows 8 tablet, or can be purchased separately for as little as $99.

WACOM has been recognized for many years by graphic artists one of the premier names in digitizing tablets. They also offer the Bamboo stylus which lets you take notes or sketch on your iPad or Android tablet. The optional Bamboo Pad lets you save your work to a PC or Mac computer. The Intuos Creative Stylus, is a professional-grade stylus for the iPad. This pressure-sensitive pen lets you draw, sketch, and paint on your iPad with the artistic control of traditional tools. The "palm rejection" feature means that you can rest your palm on the drawing surface without making unwanted marks.

Have you tried a smartpen? Can you imagine any creative uses for a gadget like this? Your thoughts on this topic are welcome. Post your comment or question below...