Livescribe gets pensive, unleashes new Echo Smartpen
By Joanna Stern 
posted July 19th 2010 12:01AM
posted July 19th 2010 12:01AM
But that's not all, Livescribe's promising more updates this fall, and they actually happen to be the most compelling of the bunch. By then you'll be able to send notes via e-mail by just docking the pen to the computer and turn the pen and paper combo into a Wacom-like graphics tablet. Basically, you'll be able to attach the pen to a computer via it's micro-USB cable and just draw free hand on the screen. The latter option could be pretty awesome for designers and such, but we'll have to wait a few months to test it out. Oh, you're looking for some more Echo action now? We've got some brief impressions and a hands-on video after the break.
There's no doubt that the Echo is more ergonomic than the previous Pulse pen -- it's got a new comfortable rubber grip and it's noticeably less top heavy than than its bulkier predecessor. As a pen pen, it's pretty much your standard quill, though we've always wished there was a rollerball ink option. But obviously this pen's got more digital skills than your average Bic, and just like the Pulse version, the Echo recorded the audio of a meeting totally in sync with our notes. Seriously, we never get over how cool it is to go back, tap a word on the special dotted-paper, and hear what was being said aloud at the time. Our review unit also came with some free apps. When we brought up the American Heritage English Dictionary app on the pen's OLED display, we were blown away at its ability to display the definition of the words we wrote out. The Sudoku app was also pretty fun to play around with. Oh, and the preloaded piano app, which requires you to draw out a keyboard to play some music, is pretty much the best doodling game ever.
We also took a look at the new desktop client on our Macbook. The iTunes-like program is easy enough to use, and we had no issues naming our pen, exporting our Pencasts to share with friends, and password protecting our new writing gadget. However, we have to say it does take quite a bit of time to download apps and then add them to the pen. Additionally, we've never really undersood why the pen doesn't include its own OCR software for converting handwriting to text -- Livescribe recommends one for $35 made by Vision Objects, but it would be nice if it was just included. Despite those slight issues, the Echo is one smart pen for students or anyone that wants to capture audio and text at the same time.
Livescribe Unveils Echo Smartpen
Company previews new communication and collaboration software for business professionals
OAKLAND, Calif. – July 19, 2010 – Livescribe Inc., (www.livescribe.com) maker of the award-winning Pulse smartpen, unveils Echo™, the newest smartpen in its product lineup, along with software enhancements geared for the business professional that make sharing, securing and organizing information simple. Today's announcement also previews new communication and collaboration capabilities coming this fall, including Connect and Paper Tablet, which simplify and streamline the sharing of information within existing workflows using industry-standard document formats like Adobe PDF.
"Livescribe's mission is to enhance the capture, access and sharing of written and spoken information to improve communication, collaboration, productivity and learning," says Jim Marggraff, CEO and founder of Livescribe. "Today's announcement of the Echo smartpen and preview of our new communication and collaboration tools marks a significant advancement in paper-based computing, as well as personal and professional information management. Notes, audio, and other information captured on paper are now seamlessly integrated into readily used online applications and services. Integration with Adobe PDF brings the communication benefits of audio and ink together in a ubiquitous format for use by millions of people."
Echo Smartpen
The Echo smartpen captures everything consumers hear and write and provides quick and accurate access to important information by simply tapping on the written notes either directly on paper or on a computer using the Livescribe Desktop software.
Echo features a sleek ergonomic design with a rubberized grip and anti-roll surface. It is available in 4GB and 8GB models, recording approximately 400 and 800 hours respectively. This new smartpen also features industry-standard connectors, micro-USB and 3.5 mm audio jack, to enable customers to use their favorite ear buds for private listening as well as share common USB cables with other mobile devices. Click here to see a demonstration of Echo.
The 8GB Echo smartpen features abundant storage, for up to 800 hours of audio or a combination of audio, digital ink and applications. Applications range from rich reference tools like a complete 120,000 word American Heritage Desk Dictionary to simple games and study aids, available from Livescribe's Beta Application Store, which now includes more than 60 applications. Livescribe smartpen applications enhance many aspects of digital life from productivity and education to entertainment and communication, enabling users to customize, personalize and extend their smartpen
New Smartpen and Livescribe Desktop Enhancements
A variety of free enhancements to Livescribe Desktop and the smartpen have been added for both Echo and Pulse customers.
• Launch Line: a new way to access and launch applications in seconds
• Password protection: ensures recorded audio on your smartpen remains private
and safe
• Custom smartpen name: display a name or other contact information
on the OLED screen, making identifying the owner of a smartpen easy
• Custom notebooks: group and organize notes as easily as creating a playlist in
iTunes
• Pencast import/export: save and share pencast files locally to your desktop, a
server, or to send to others as an integrated audio/notes document. Anyone with
the Livescribe Desktop software (free download online) can now open, view and
interact with a native Livescribe file
New Communication and Collaboration Tools Available this Fall
This fall, Livescribe will also make available new Connect software, which enables customers to send notes, audio and Pencast PDFs quickly and easily from smartpen and paper to a wide range of destinations including email addresses, online sites and other popular third-party consumer, education and business applications. Information is automatically sent when the smartpen is docked to a Mac or PC. With Pencast PDF, customers will also be able to author and share pencasts in an industry-standard Adobe PDF document directly from smartpen and paper. Anyone with Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.3 or above will be able to view and listen to an interactive Pencast PDF. To see an example Pencast PDF, click here.
Livescribe will also introduce Paper Tablet, powerful new collaboration software that lets consumers communicate in real-time, directly from a Livescribe notebook to a Mac or PC using an Echo smartpen and a standard micro-USB cable. Now any Livescribe paper product can also be used as an interactive, high-precision graphics tablet, with the smartpen being used as a real-time graphics stylus. Customers will create and share notes, drawings, and annotate or sign documents or presentations locally or over the Web with popular video conferencing applications and industry-standard education collaboration tools.
Pencast Player from Livescribe on Apple iPad, iPhone and iTouch With the launch of Echo, the company is announcing the Pencast Player for iPad, iPhone and iTouch, which enables customers to access their pencasts anywhere they go. Now notes and audio from critical meetings or lectures are portable, playable and easy to share with a simple touch. Pencast Player will be available for free from the iTunes store later this summer.
Product Availability
All Livescribe smartpens and the Livescribe Desktop software for Mac and PCs are localized and available in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. Additionally Korean, and Chinese languages are supported in the Windows version of the Livescribe Desktop and all smartpens.
US: The company is also introducing several new accessory products to enhance the experience with Livescribe smartpens.
• Echo 3-D Recording Premium Headset ($29.95): features embedded microphones that enable 360 degree binaural recording – ideal for recording in lecture halls or conferences
• Smartpen Portfolio ($24.95): a convenient all-in-one solution for professionals, fits Livescribe journals or A5 notebooks, and provides extra storage for a smartpen, business cards and extra ink cartridges
• Deluxe Carrying Case ($24.95): a protective zippered case, with plenty of room for a smartpen, ear buds and other cables and accessories
The new Echo smartpens, available in 4GB ($169.95) and 8GB ($199.95) models, dot paper and accessories are available now at Best Buy, Amazon.com, Apple, Staples, Target and online at Livescribe.com. In addition, select applications for the smartpen will be sold at Best Buy, with a full set of downloadable applications available at Livescribe's Application Store at www.livescribe.com/store. The 2GB Pulse smartpen is now available at a new entry price point of $129.95.
that piano app... C'mon. My Leapfrog Fly could do that out of the box!
@whatpoint77 Yeah, this was too. The first Livescribe Pulse had it as well. Come on, it's fun!
@whatpoint77
I immediately misread the title, thinking it read "Livescribe gets penis, unleashes new Echo Smartpen"
oops.. lol
@whatpoint77 the main guy that worked on the fly pentop computer is the guy that started to make this pen. = P
I really wish they would make an normal sized pen that offloaded its sensor inputs though bluetooth to a smartphone. ^_^
@uckApple lol that's funny, actually guess what, nobody cares.
oh wait that was rude OOPS!
@whatpoint77 What I hate is the fact that you still have to use their own notebook paper. Why can't they just make the pen work on any paper?
@whatpoint77 How about a 0 GB one that takes microSD cards. Come on. Must I think about everything?
@EliteGeek
Yeah, after watching videos and reading several descriptions, it's still not super clear to me what these pens do. they record audio while you write? who needs that? I would like it if they took my written notes and and converted them into electronic text that uploaded to Evernote, no matter what paper I wrote on.
Let me know when they can do that. who needs a video of themselves writing something?
@Extinction
If they did that, they wouldn't be able to charge extra for more space. Remember, businesses usually don't care about you, they care about money.
@EliteGeek I own that pen and you can print your own paper! You can even design your own sheets.
There notebooks cost the same price has normal notebooks.
@steel When you use their paper (which has tiny dots in specific patterns), it stores the dot information while you apply pressure on the pen tip. Through this, it stores the location of all of your pen strokes. When you connect it to a computer, it will automatically transfer all of your notes, with synchronized audio. This way, all your notes are digitally stored on your computer, with synchronized audio.
@EliteGeek Because normal paper doesn't have their dots on it. The pen can't sense where it is on the paper without them, which is why it requires their notebooks, or a person to print out their paper on normal paper. Normal paper also wouldn't have the audio controls at the bottom of it, to control recording and playback.
The paper is priced at around the same price (~$6/notebook) so it isn't really a huge markup to get their own paper.
If the Wacom-like feature is accurate, then I'm sold!
@bigcow05 Indeed. Tablets never worked well for me - I never felt the accuracy was there to be entirely useful. But if this works better than a tablet, sold!
Happy to see this company still doing good things, since I did like their first pen. But I was finishing grad school at the time it came out and didn't have the same use for it in the workplace.
@bigcow05
I wonder if you could use the pen also as a sort of selection tool... for like Photoshop and other applications. That would be very handy, and a cheap alternative to buying an otherwise not very useful tablet.
@bigcow05
I agree, one of these would be epic for college. Just wish they werent so expensive!
*Sigh* The life of a poor college student is a harsh one...
That's what she said.
@Son Goku
no its not...
I have a livescribe pulse pen and i love it. i think I would definitely be in to a thinner version though.
@Nick Brown the current one is pretty fat, but this doesn't look that much thinner imo, what do you think?
The one thing I've never understood about the company is why they have never created the necessary tools to integrate with useful applications like Microsoft OneNote or Evernote. No matter how interesting their applications are, they pale in comparison to their hardware, which is really impressive. They've got 50% of the equation, but the software is always lacking.
Could you imagine having OneNote without having to carry around a PC? I would think they would move heaven and earth to get that functionality, but they never do.
@SteveNYC You just single handedly made me miss the Courier just a little bit less.
Now somebody get busy and do this so you can take my money!
@nefnet13 and @SteveNYC, it's already been done: http://adapx.com/products/capturx-onenote. Works as expected, and you can print your own sheets. One of my complaints when I worked there was that there isn't a single price for any of the products on their site, and I don't recall, so you'll have to email for a price.
@SteveNYC
Yep. And software that would sync up written dates to Outlook or similar would be incredibly useful - mark a date or deadline, and export an OCR note to the appropriate date in your calendar. As you say, the hardware is there but the software isn't.
@mikestew Wow that looks really interesting. Thanks very much for the link!
@mikestew True, except that CapturX sells their own pen, so it has nothing to do with the Pulse or the Echo pens from Livescribe. Plus, their solution costs $350 and has no audio component. Don't get me wrong. CapturX's product looks nice, but it's apples and oranges. My comment remains, Livescribe had a nice product in the Pulse and continues to have a nice product in the Echo. But the hardware, as nice as it is, can't compensate for the relatively weak software options. A look at their forums shows a long list of people practically begging for OneNote or Evernote integration going back to 2008.
But the time you "navigate to the proper menu option" during the meeting, the meeting will be already over.
These smart pens are still kind of bulky.
does it still require special paper for it to work?
@Ben64 yeah I think it still requires those dots to map where you are drawing and writing so it can make a digital copy. I think you can print the paper for free from your own printer though. I remember my friend had one of these for med school and he printed his own paper, but the original stuff isn't that expensive anyways.
I totally want that
this would be a perfect present for my girl friend who is an exchange student but nope. instead she wanted a gucci wallet which was about twice the price of one of these pens. SIGH!
@FUNYUN get her the pen and if she doesn't want it just keep it for yourself. If you lose the girlfriend because of this you just dropped a gold digger in record time and did yourself a favor. Win-win my friend.
@Kaitou KID No, I tried that with the wife. I bought her an EVO since my Pre rebate isn't here yet thinking she would think the EVO was too bulky and take my Pre. I still have the Pre......
@USMC1978 No phone is top bulky for a purse ;).
As much as the technology is exciting, a $200 pen is still a tough sell. And the required dot-paper would be a deal-breaker for many people. I don't see how this can ever become mass-market.
@insectezoid I agree, I see this as a great tool that needs expanding. Combine this and a Tablet or an iPad and I am sold.
Waiting for a response from Acer, Asus, Apple or HP...
...but I'm left handed... does the screen switch orientation?
@otherman
Yes. There are screen orientation settings.
@Eli Haj are you dumb?
@Eli Haj
It will in the next 50 years.
If they could make one of these as a pencil I would be sold. It would be so nice to be able to have it record everything I write, but also delete and copy over what I have erased. As a EE major, I do more math than take notes and I'm afraid if I used a pen I would just be wasting paper and time. Still, having a digital copy of my work would be great for collaboration with teachers and other students.
@Intensentropy
.5mm of course, in case anyone reads this and takes it seriously. :)
I really do think these "smart pens" have potential, but they need to be simple and easily accessible straight from the computer. Here's hopin' for good things in the future.
Should I get one of these for college? Seems useful.
@TitanT30 I have the previous version. It is useful, but the pen is pretty big and heavy. Not something you want to carry in your chest pocket. They say it's slimmed down from the previous version, but not by much. It takes a conscious decision to actually haul the thing around. But still, its small enough to accidentally forget somewhere. You have to consciously force yourself to carry it around and use it. I stopped using it after 2 weeks.
@TitanT30
It's useful if you have a fast talking professor that doesn't hand out note sheets.
@hiroo I carry mine everysingle day, I don't use my pencil case anymore, I write with that pen all the time. I do make sure I don't forget it. I also make sure it does not roll of the table :)
I have my personnal logbook for my engineering project with plenty of drawings and notes and really love that pen.
Really useful at school too.
Yes
def would not mind having this.