There haven’t been too many advances to the pen, but today I saw technology applied to it in a new way. It might just change the way we work over the next couple of years…
A company called Anoto has developed a pen that includes ink, a camera, a processor, memory, battery, and a bluetooth chip. It uses special paper with tiny, almost invisible, dots to track its location on the page. The pen strokes are then captured by the pen and can be downloaded via bluetooth onto your PC.
The technology is already being used by Nokia as an accessory to capture and transfer the written word via Nokia’s smartphones ($299).
Satori Labs is using the technology in the medical field to capture those endless medical and insurance forms we have to fill out. It saves data entry time and allows them to store an electronic copy of your signature.
LiveScribe is targeting students who take notes in class. LifeScribe’s pen also records the surrounding audio when the pen is being used, so if you are using it to take notes, you’ll be able to hear the lecture at the same time. Would be interesting to use the pen to hear what’s under someone’s breath as they sign a contract. The file looks to have an optical character reader to search the text within the files as well. The company says the pen is supposed to be available at the end of 2007 and will be less than $200. The paper is also supposed to cost about the same as regular paper.
[...] Pen mightier than Keyboard is presented at Marketing and Adbits blog. It saves data entry time and allows them to store an [...]
[...] Kozlen presents Pen Mightier than Keyboard posted at Marketing & AdBits Blog. A new pen and paper technology that may change the way we [...]
User’s of this pen should be very scrupulous in observing laws against surreptitious recordings of conversations. Recording what someone says under their breath while signing a contract, as mentioned in this passing review, would be illegal in most jurisdictions unless specifically authorized by all parties to the recording. This is not a trivial concern. All bear in mind that verbatim recordings obliterate privacy from casual conversations in meetings and interviews. They all risk exposing innocent remarks and conversation to public and legal scrutiny. There is no 5th Amendment protection for these recordings; they would certainly have to be surrendered or potentially seized in the course of any legal dispute that may touch upon the meetings recorded, whether civil or criminal. This device is a 2 edged sword, careful when, how, and where you use it.
That said, it performs very well, as advertised, and is something of a break-through in ease of use and overall functionality. Build quality also is quite good.
[...] Kozlen presents Pen Mightier than Keyboard posted at Marketing & AdBits Blog. A new pen and paper technology that may change the way we [...]