Livescribe's Pulse Smartpen- Take Notes in a Whole New Way
What can a pen do? What do you use them for? Ever written something down, thrown the piece of paper away, and later regretted it? Or been in a class, taking notes, only to realize later that you have no idea what the note was referring to?
Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen aims to change all of that- and we like anyone who dreams big, even when if the reality can’t quite be as revolutionary. First, it actually works, and works well- it’s not great as a pen, but decent enough. And the built-in screen is super-bright, the battery life is decent, the speaker is surprisingly good, and the included “3-D” headset was also better than expected.
So, what’s the catch? There are a couple, the biggest one being that you need to use special paper, imprinted with micro-dots. If you’re a long-time reader of the site (or a diehard gadget lover), you’ll recall that the same system was used in a quite similar device, the Leapfrog Fly, which we reviewed previously. As before, the paper is a real restriction- it’s not cheap, though the device comes with 100 sheets… but the real hassle is that it limits your options. After all, when you write down a phone number or jot something quickly down on a napkin, you’ll need to not only grab your charged-up, slightly bulky Pulse Smartpen, but make sure to use the special paper.
Though the calculator and piano has improved, the device is missing some of the games from the kid’s version- but plenty of more advanced features are available and in the works, including the ability to print your own paper, create interactive movies (“pencasts”) from your notes and audio, and even transcribe your handwriting into text (a great new feature, but a paid service after the free 30-day trial). Translating also sort of works, as before, but instead of needing to buy new cartridges for the pen, you’ll be able to get applications from a growing third-party community of developers. We tried the 1GB version ($150), but a 2GB version is available for $200- only those who plan to travel far from a computer or count on future software additions are likely to need the larger version though.
In short, this is a device jumping from childhood to adolescence. If you spend a lot of time writing with a pen, in class or as a doctor or lawyer or drafter, definitely consider adding the Pulse Smartpen to your toolkit. We can’t wait for the future- wireless, easily communicating with our iPhone, small and sleek enough to be easy to pocket, and with plenty of options for colors and skins. But we like dreaming big.
