Equil's Smartpen 2 can transcribe your notes without your tablet's help
The Equil JOT smartpen was a nice evolution on digitally-enhanced writing implements. Much like Livescribe's digitizing pen, it copied all a writer's scribbles to a companion iPad app -- but the JOT didn't need a special notebook to do it. Rather than requiring writers to buy special smartpen-friendly paper, Equil created a sensor that could be attached to any notebook and synced wirelessly with iOS devices. Now that JOT's rebranded successor, the Smartpen 2, doesn't even need to do that.
The Equil Smartpen 2 launched this week at TechCrunch disrupt, and it's mostly the same writing device as last year's model, but with one important difference: the pen's notebook sensor can save your notes locally. This means that you no longer need a smartphone or tablet handy to digitize your notes, and can sync digital scribblings later at your leisure. The new model will retail for $169, but can be had for a tad cheaper for the duration of an Indigogo campaign, which prices the device at $79 and increases in $10 increments as orders are filled.
