[1] Livescribe Pulse Smartpen

A smart pen that reads, writes and records

The Pulse Smartpen is available in two versions: a 1GB and a 2GB model. I chose the 1GB and I’ll get to the memory aspect of the Smartpen in a bit. The box is roughly the size of an A4 page of paper and contains the Pulse Smartpen, pouch, two extra ink refills, USB cradle, earphones and a 100 page notepad.

From the text on the box, the primary operating method of the Pulse should be evident: it records and links audio. It’s a slightly oversized pen, though it’s not uncomfortable or unwieldy to hold and write with. Whether your left or right-handed is immaterial. In fact, the pen requests you to indicate your preference in order to setup the orientation of text in the OLED display located on the upper end of the pen.

A microphone and speaker is located just below the OLED display. A jack for the supplied earphones sits right at the top of the Pulse. A lithium rechargable battery powers the pen. To charge the battery or transfer memory content to a desktop application, a magnetic cradle is used that connects to a Windows PC using a USB connector.

The Pulse is a clever piece of technology. The microphone works in conjunction with the camera housed beneath the nib.

Of course, the pen cannot operate without knowing where it is. For that reason, the 100 page pad is supplied. The Anoto paper has an array of dots printed on it in conjunction with a variety of audio playback controls.
Switch the pen on, press on the record image on the paper in front of you and start taking notes. As you write, the camera tracks the pen’s path and records it to the internal memory. At the same time, all audio picked up by the sensitive microphone is recorded. All good and well, you say. Finish the meeting and tap on the stop image on the paper. When it’s time for the review of your written notes, simply tap the pen on the text or diagram you doodled during the meeting or lecture: the audio recorded at that point in time is played back through the built-in speaker on the pen. It sounds daft, but is rather effective. I know full well that there are many things I miss out on trying to write and listen at the same time. This way, there’s no reason to write everything down. Simply rely on the recorded audio to flesh out the details of the text, or to review again what was said and compare it to what was written down. Overall, the Pulse Smartpen is a very valuable memory aid for anyone relying on the capture of notes in meetings or lectures.
1GB of memory in my Smartpen is plenty. That’s supposed to hold almost 100 hours of audio, many times more than I’d ever need. The difference in price from 1GB to 2GB is not huge, but significant enough to make one consider how much storage one actually needs.
Original source of text & images: http://hertenberger.co.za/2008/09/26/livescribe-pulse-smartpen/