Smartpen gets mightier - with downloadable apps

Stuart Corner
Friday, 20 November 2009 08:35

Your IT - Entertainment

Livescribe has launched, in beta, an online app store for its Pulse Smartpen - a digital recorder built into a pen that uses Anoto digital paper technology to link handwritten notes with recordings of spoken text.

At launch the Livescribe app store has more than 30 paid and free applications ranging from productivity and reference tools to games and entertainment to travel and education.

Livescribe has also released the 2.0 version of its mobile computing platform, including software upgrades for both the Smartpen (review on iTWire here ) and the Livescribe Desktop software (Windows and Mac versions) which allows consumers to save, organise and share their notes and recordings from their computer, and to download and install applications on the Smartpen (Version 2.0 is also required to enable apps to be installed on the Smartpen.)
 
According to Livescribe, "the applications enable a broad range of new user experiences with the Pulse Smartpen. For example, consumers can now read and hear a translated phrase in Spanish, French, German, Japanese or even Korean; rapidly access fun facts on a variety of topics from past World Series winners to US presidents; get help studying geometry, organic chemistry, or Hebrew chanting; play more than a dozen games like blackjack, video poker or hangman; listen to classical music pieces or even play a guitar – right from the 'pentip' of their Pulse Smartpen."
 
According to Livescribe chief marketing officer, Byron Connell, there are more than 5,500 registered Livescribe applications developers. The store is at www.livescribe.com/store . During the beta phase it is accessible only from Australia, The UK, USA and Canada.