After winning a “Best in Show” award at this past MacWorld expo, I knew I had to get my hands on the Pulse smartpen. And now, I can’t say I’m disappointed, but… Well, just check out these impressions I had with what may be the smartest pen in the world.
The Pulse smartpen (above) compared to a regular pen (below).
That’s one smart pen. The Pulse smartpen may as well be called the evolution of the pen, where it has been outfitted with a tiny computer to benefit the user. The pen has a tiny camera at the bottom, where it records everything that you write on special, tiny-dotted paper. It is important to emphasize that the pen will not function without the tiny dots the paper has as reference. Also within the pen’s body there is a tiny microphone and speaker — but you can also plug in the special microphone-headphones it includes for discreet listening, as well as stereo recording thanks to a small microphone within each ear piece. The pen will then associate each word written to what was recorded at the time. Then, after you tap on one word, the pen will automatically play back that specific part of the recording. It also has other features, such as a piano that is played by tapping on the multiple rectangles drawn and other tiny “overkills.” But since the pen is only available in 1GB and 2GB versions, syncing with a computer will be essential. So how is the beta of the Mac client?
The Mac beta is nowhere near of having what the final version will.
That’s not one as-smart Mac client. As the beta status implies, this piece of software is lacking many parts — essential and non-essential alike — when compared to the Windows version. Basically everything the Mac version can do at the moment is sync and play back anything written and recorded with the pen. It doesn’t allow for audio management on the pen, archiving existing notebooks, online Livescribe integration, renaming notebooks, the ability to print out your own dot paper (instead of buying the dot paper notebooks), and a couple of other things. It is very incomplete for it to even be called a 0.8 release, in my opinion.
More is coming very soon. But there’s good news, as the 1.0 Mac client is scheduled to be released as a free download on February 17th — ten days from today. That version claims to have all the big features Windows users have, as well as a couple of Mac-firsts like changing the ink color of the virtual notes, PDF and AAC audio exporting.
Check back for more impressions after the final version of the software is released. Meanwhile, you can check out the existing video demos or more information at the smartpen’s website.
UPDATE - I just heard that the 1.0 Mac client has experienced some delays and that a new release date is uncertain. However, the dev team is hoping to have it out by early March, at the latest.
Kal Shah on February 8th, 2009 at 12:28 am says:
I’ve been using the pen for a while now - i love it! I’m a college student with a bioengineering major and use the pen for all my engineering classes. Studying really is a breeze with it. I just re-listen to the parts I was hazy on/my notes weren’t as clear. I also share my notes with a lot of friends using the “Livescribe Online” feature so they can take advantage of my notes along with the synced audio.
Let me know if you guys have any questions!
Also, I’m actually a campus representative for Livescribe at UC Berkeley. Hence, I have a discount code for you guys: PULSE5A10 that works at http://www.livescribe.com
Kal
kalpit210@gmail.com
Nigel Atkinson on February 17th, 2009 at 9:04 pm says:
I am a professor at University of Texas at Austin. I use a smartpen for seminars and the scientific meetings that I attend. I really think that it is clever and incredibly useful. I am looking forward to the new version of the Mac Software. The Mac beta version won’t allow uploading.
I like this thing so much that I purchased three more. One for my wife and one for each of my kids who ar currently in college. My kids really like the pens and think that they really help with the stuyding. One minor complaint is that the pen is thick and one has to learn not to grip it very hard. Otherwise your hand will cramp.