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digitalpen posts

Olympus E-P1 hands-on, test shots, and mini-review

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jul 1st 2009 at 2:19PM

It goes without saying that we've been pretty excited about the Olympus E-P1 (or "digital Pen") since we first laid eyes on the prototype the company was showing off. The Micro Four Thirds camera just seems to breed gadget lust amongst the staff, combining the best of modern tech with a throwback retro style that is somewhat irresistible. Of course, no one wants to drop $800 on a digicam unless it's actually capable of taking a decent shot -- so we thought we'd put the E-P1 through some basic paces to see if this guy is worth unloading nearly a grand on. Read on for some of our first impressions and observations.

Gallery: Olympus E-P1 hands-on

Continue reading Olympus E-P1 hands-on, test shots, and mini-review

Olympus E-P1 now available for pre-order

by Ross Miller posted Jun 21st 2009 at 10:44PM

You might've noticed this already, but for those out there who share our lust for Olympus' E-P1 "digital Pen," but haven't done too much digging, consider this a public service announcement. The retro-chich micro four thirds camera is now available for pre-order from a handful of online retailers, with several different packages to choose from based with various body color (silver or white) and lens color (silver or black) combinations. Looks like it'll still cost you about $750 if you want body only, but really, at this point we don't know why you wouldn't pay an additional Ulysses S. Grant and grab a lens with it. Ready to smash that E-P1 piggy bank a bit early? You've got plenty of retailers willing to help you out there, but don't feel too pressured, there's still a little bit of time to decide before the July launch.

Read - Adorama
Read - Amazon
Read - B&H
Read - J&R

Olympus E-P1 'digital Pen' gets official, so does our lust

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 16th 2009 at 1:27AM

It's official, Olympus' first MIcro Four Thirds camera is up and dancing upon the global stage. Dubbed, E-P1 "digital Pen" (reflecting the camera's Olympus Pen-series heritage) this MFT shooter aligns with the looks and specs that came our way yesterday in leaked format. In other words, we're looking at an image stabilized (sensor-shift) 12.3 megapixel Live MOS sensor with TruePic V image processing, ISO 100-6400 sensitivity, a 3-inch LCD, 20 shooting modes (5 exposure, i-Auto, and 14 automatic scenes), an SDHC slot, and HDMI TV-out for playback of 720p (1280x720 pixel) recorded video at 30fps. The 14-42 lens kit retracts into the barrel when not in use and Olympus' Supersonic Wave Filter helps keep dust under control when swapping-out the lens for Micro Four Thirds, Four Thirds, or OM lenses. A few advanced previews of the E-P1 are already available -- peep those in the read links below if you can't wait for the July launch or the full-blown reviews due in a few weeks.

Update: Priced at $749 (body only), $799 (with 14-42mm lens), and $899 (with 17mm pancake lens and viewfinder). Honestly, those prices are better than we had hoped for especially in a camera measuring just 121 x 70 x 36-mm (4.7 x 2.7 x 1.4-inches) playing host to a DSLR-sized sensor.

Gallery: Olympus E-P1 'digital pen' gets official, so does our lust

Read -- LetsGoDigital
Read -- DPReview
Read -- Photography Blog
Read -- Official E-P1 product page

Hanwha's Duo for Laptop lets you doodle on your standard 15.4-inch laptop

by Darren Murph posted Mar 18th 2009 at 9:11PM

Here's a novel idea -- turning one's standard, non-tablet PC into a tablet PC. Hanwha Japan has just introduced its incredibly useful Duo for Laptop device, which sits gently atop one's laptop display and tracks digital pen movements via Infrared and ultrasonic technology in order to add doodling functionality to LCDs that were never designed to understand touch input. The only limitation -- and it's a big one -- is that this seems to only work with lappies possessing up to a 15.4-inch display. If that's kosher with you, you can snap one up for ¥9,980 ($101), or if not, you can just wait 'til these are announced for netbooks, ultraportables and desktop replacements.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

WriteSense digital pen tech for capacitive touchscreens announced

by Laura June posted Dec 17th 2008 at 12:28PM

Folks with capacitive touchscreen devices like the G1 and the iPhone who miss the glorious days of the stylus should be happy to hear this news. InPlay Technologies has announced that they've developed tech for a new RF pen called WriteSense which eliminates the necessity for a separate digitizer -- it communicates directly with the capacitive touch sensors. Essentially, this will mean smaller and cheaper RF pens, which is probably a good thing since capacitive touchscreens will likely continue their assault on resistive touchscreens (cough, Nokia). The pencil doesn't stand a chance.

[Via Gotta Be Mobile]

Livescribe Pulse smartpen gets OS X support

by Darren Murph posted Nov 17th 2008 at 3:02AM

For months now, dutiful Mac users who refuse to load any flavor of Windows on their precious machines have longed for the ability to use Livescribe's Pulse smartpen. Now, those holdouts can finally say the wait was worth it, as Livescribe has announced that a native Mac desktop application (Livescribe Desktop for Mac) will be made available in beta form on November 24th. Additionally, a few new features for the Pulse have been added over on the Wintel side, including handwriting to text transcription software ($29.95) and the ability for consumers to print dot paper notepads for free. Finally, something for OS X users to digitally write home about.

IOGEAR's Mobile Digital Scribe lets you ignore digital pens on the go

by Nilay Patel posted Mar 4th 2008 at 3:48AM

We're not sure how many of you were so hopelessly addicted to the IOGEAR Digital Scribe that you clamored for a mobile version, but the company has somehow heard your cries and duly provided. Just like big brother, the Mobile Digital Scribe comes in two parts: the pen itself, which uses ordinary ink in addition to transmitting your doodled masterworks, and the USB receiver, which has been shrunken in size and given a detachable mini-USB cord. The receiver also now has enough memory to hold up to 50 pages of scribblings, which you can download back to your PC for OCR later. Interestingly, you'll pay a $30 premium over the original Digital Scribe for all these hot new features -- we suppose no one at IOGEAR has used one of these to sketch out a demand curve, eh?

IOGEAR's Digital Scribe lets you ink up any PC

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 21st 2007 at 8:41AM

We've seen quite a few digital pens come and go -- and just like several other models relegated to history's dustbin, IOGEAR's Digital Scribe is a two-part affair consisting of an "ordinary" pen that tracks your movements and sends data to a USB receiver. Unlike those others, however, the Digital Scribe doesn't require any special tracking paper to do its thing, and it's got one huge ace up its sleeve: it's cheap. At $99, those of you brave enough to take the Vista plunge can unlock all those tablet features without breaking the bank, and the three of you who write faster than you type can doodle away at meetings. We still lose too many pens to drop a Benny on one of these things, but at least the tech is getting more accessible. Available now, according to IOGEAR.

EPOS Technologies' digital pen records your writing

by Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 9th 2007 at 10:28AM

Have you ever been sitting around and suddenly thought of the cure for cancer, or figured out how to build the world's largest hamburger, but you didn't have any way to get your idea down? Sure, you could write it on a piece of paper, but what if that paper got ripped, or blown away by a strong gust of wind? Well luckily, EPOS Technologies thought about all of this and came up with a solution: a digital pen which records your movements on a piece of paper, and then saves them to a USB flash drive for later use. The two-part combo utilizes the company's proprietary system of transmission which employs ultrasonic acoustic waves to help measure the distance and position of the pen, so apparently all you have to do is clip the flash drive to a notepad or related writing surface, and off you go. The whole wacky set-up is available for the bargain-basement price of $79, and should be available by the end of the year.