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Using tech to keep your kids organized and on task
Gone are the days of trusty Moleskine 18-month planners, scraps of to-do lists and family calendars hanging on the fridge. Full-time jobs and older kids mean more clubs, more appointments, more social life. Making a move to digital organization can take a load off and breathe new life into the family. It's never too early to help children learn to manage their time and be responsible for themselves too (to a point, obviously). It's a skill that will help them on their path through life. And it's surprising how little you need to do to organize family life. Often you have the apps and software on hand -- you just need to rethink how you use them.
Moleskine’s latest smart pen saves your writing to download later
Moleskine has valiantly tried to bridge the divide between analog writing and digital files for years. The company released its Smart Writing Set in 2016 as a $200 holistic solution of pen, proprietary smart paper and app that instantly sent whatever you wrote or drew over to your paired device -- which worked as long as your smartphone or tablet was nearby. But its newest writing implement, the $180 Pen+ Ellipse, liberates you from the latter need, saving all your scratchings in an offline mode until it connects to your device again.
Moleskine's smart notebook will work with Microsoft Office
Microsoft has long sold its Surface devices on the idea that they can double as digital notebooks; laptops one minute, journals the next thanks to their detachable displays and styli. (Heck, the Surface Book has a "Clipboard" mode.) With today's Moleskine partnership, however, the company seems ready to admit that some people still prefer paper and pen. The pair have announced a Windows 10 app for Moleskine's 'Smart Writing System,' a quill (based on the Kickstarter-funded Neo smartpen) with a tiny camera that tracks your scribbles on specially marked paper. A digital version of the note is then transferred over Bluetooth for easy reference and sharing.
Moleskine’s smart planner requires too much effort to use
As a tech reporter, I sometimes find my reliance on physical planners and paper notebooks embarrassing. But there's something about the act of writing my appointments down that makes them feel more official. As my friends will tell you, though, all too often I double- or even triple-book myself because I've forgotten to transfer my plans to my phone's calendar, which is what reminds me of upcoming meetings. So when I heard about Moleskine's latest product, I was intrigued. The company's new smart planner builds on its existing connected writing set by letting you jot down appointments and have those meetings show up in your online calendar. But, as I found out after a few days of testing, the effort required to get the system up and running ultimately isn't worth it.
Moleskine planner syncs your handwritten schedule with the cloud
As helpful as online calendars can be, it's hard to give up the satisfying feel of jotting down appointments in an old-school planner. Wouldn't it be nice if you could use a pen and paper while still having all the benefits of the internet era? Moleskine sure thinks so. The company is expanding its connected writing sets with the Smart Planner, which syncs your hand-written schedule entries with Google Calendar and services that tie into it, such as Apple's iCloud and Microsoft Outlook. It combines a Neo Smartpen with sensor-laden paper to send your meetings to the appropriate sections of the calendar -- so long as you scribble the time and subject, you can check it later on your phone or PC.
Moleskine's latest pen and notebook instantly digitize scribbles
Moleskine's sketchbooks and pads have been a top choice for doodlers and notetakers for quite some time. The company also dabbled in the gadget world, including co-branded products with Adobe, Livescribe and Evernote that digitize physical drawings and notes with ease. That same idea is carried over in Moleskine's latest product: The Smart Writing Set. The setup is comprised of a paper notebook (or Paper Tablet as the company calls it), the aluminum Pen+ and a mobile app. All three of those pieces work together to instantly digitize any notes and illustrations made on paper so that they can be easily edited with software on a phone, tablet or computer.
Evernote to stop selling notebooks, scanners and socks
Evernote is still one of the most popular and fully-featured note-taking apps, however as a business it's been struggling of late. Following extensive layoffs and the departure of its long-time CEO Phil Libin, the company is cutting back on nonessential projects. The latest is Evernote Market, an online store where it sells physical goods such as "smart" notebooks, scanners and styluses. Most of these are complimentary to its software, making it easier to transfer handwritten notes. While useful for users, the entire initiative was probably a distraction for Evernote.
Livescribe's latest smartpen is aimed at writing buffs
Livescribe had the canny idea of letting you digitize your art by drawing with ink on actual paper, and it's trying to make the drawing experience better with the Livescribe 3 Black Edition. The pen has a grippy matte black finish with a glass-reinforced black clip and a subtle change in balance that was requested by some of the company's customers. We take that to mean that artists or perhaps lovers of calligraphy wanted something more akin to a professional tool.
Moleskine now has Livescribe-compatible notebooks
If you've always wanted to take the plunge and get a Livescribe smartpen but shudder at the thought of giving up your beloved Moleskine notebooks, well, have we got great news for you. Yep, you guessed it: Livescribe has partnered with the iconic paper notebook maker to produce special edition Moleskine notebooks filled with the special Livescribe paper required for the smartpen to do its job. If you don't know already, Livescribe smartpens have the ability to record audio so that they're paired with simultaneously written notes. Different pen models offer different features -- the Sky WiFi pen hooks up to Evernote while the Livescribe 3 uses Bluetooth to sync those notes with a corresponding iOS app. No matter which pen you want however, all will work with the limited edition Moleskine book. It's got the look and feel of traditional Moleskine tomes, complete with elastic closure and an expandable inner pocket (which, incidentally, comes with a handy cheat sheet of smartpen controls). If you want to snag one though, you better act soon -- there's a limited supply and each book will cost you $29.95.
Daily Update for November 27, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
AbracadabrApp: Moleskine meets moviemaking
iPhone fans often seem to have a penchant for two things: Moleskine notebooks and taking copious amounts of pictures or shooting hand-held movies. Barcelona's Honest&Smile has managed to combine three elements -- iPhone, Moleskine and movies -- into one compact "analog image mixer and notebook" called AbracadabrApp (US$38.42). It's an incredibly simple "analog app" -- just take one hardcover Moleskine reporter notebook, drill a hole through it at one point, cut off part of the pages and add a channel that an iPhone can sit in. Then add a mirror with a tiny "arm" that sticks into the hole in the page. That mirror can be adjusted a bit in terms of angle by swiveling it around the arm, but ends up in the field of view of the iPhone's camera. The result? You can take photos or movies showing both what's behind and in front of the camera simultaneously. Think of it as a split-screen app, only there's no app involved. It's all smoke and mirrors, minus the smoke. As you can see for yourself in the photos here and in a number of example videos on the AbracadabrApp web page, the result is enchanting. To add to the fun, there are three little "handyfilters" (orange, yellow and green) that can be placed in front of the iPhone camera lens either singly or stacked to change the tint of the images being captured like an analog Instagram. AbracadabrApp is about as low-tech as you can get, but brings a tremendous amount of charm and fun to capturing video or photos with your iPhone. And hey -- if you need to take notes, you'll always have a notebook at hand... The Moleskine US web page shows this as a "limited edition" notebook, so if you're drooling at the thought of a unique holiday gift, you might want to order one today. Related: I ended up ordering one. I think I need an intervention.
Pencil on Paper: meet the stylus for FiftyThree's popular iPad sketching app
When you're the creator of an award-winning iPad sketchbook app, making your own stylus would be a logical move. Unsurprisingly, that's exactly what FiftyThree, the brains behind Microsoft's Courier project and developers of Paper, intend to do. The company's new "Pencil" capacitive stylus has just popped up at the FCC, outlining its plans to equip Paper users with a rubber-tipped low power Bluetooth accessory that can draw on a touchscreen "like a canvas." The documents detail two models: one crafted from wood and the other from aluminum alloy. The FCC approval highlights FiftyThree's desire to further expand beyond Apple's App Store and venture into new markets. The company recently partnered with Moleskine to allow Paper users to create a $40 custom-printed 15-page "Book" of sketches and designs created within the app. The new products will directly compete with Wacom's bluetooth-enabled stylii, and of course with plain old fingers -- which will likely still be welcome in the Paper app, even after the Pencil comes to market.
Daily Update for October 1, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Paper for iPad lets you print physical notebooks of your work
Paper by FiftyThree (free, with in-app purchases) is an incredibly cool sketching/painting app for iPad that provides virtual notebooks into which those with artistic talents can pour their visions. Now FiftyThree has teamed up with Moleskine to let artists create physical books of their work with a tap in the app. What do these two companies call their collaboration? Book. Pressing the print button in the app lets the artist grab 15 of their favorite digital drawings from Paper and have them printed in a Moleskine notebook that matches the 4:3 ratio of the iPad screen. The Book is printed on "sustainable matte ivory-colored paper" that is accordion-folded into a Moleskine cover of your design, complete with the trademark elastic band. As demonstrated in the video below, Paper and Book are perfect for creating personal one-of-a-kind gifts or just archiving digital doodles in a very tangible way. Our 2012 review of Paper demonstrates just how unique the app is; now Book brings the art of Paper home.
The Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine: paper sketchbooks and journals get connected
Evernote has trotted out an update to its iOS app and accompanied the software release with an announcement of a collaboration with Moleskine. Yes, you read that correctly. The digital note-taking application has teamed up with the analog sketchbook maker to produce the Evernote Smart Notebook. Designed specifically for the refreshed iPhone and iPad software, the notebooks allow users to snag written notes or drawings right off the paper and archive them with the app -- making them searchable and organized for future reference. So where exactly does the tech angle come in? First, pages are lined using a dotted pattern that is optimized for the updated mobile software. With the new Page Camera feature, photos of pages are shot and automatically given a proper contrast adjustment. The add-on also finds the aforementioned dots are corrects a skewed photo. Last but certainly not least, each Smart Notebook comes with a set of Smart Stickers. Evernote will now recognize each of these and apply the appropriate tags before sorting. While the stickers come with pre-defined tags, they are customizable to accommodate your particular sensibilities. These pseudo-digital Moleskines will be available in both pocket (3.5 x 5.5 inches / 8.89 x 13.97 cm) and large (5 x 8.25 inches / 12.7 x 20.96 cm) sizes, carrying $25 and $30 price tags when they hit shelves October 1st. If you can't contain your excitement, head on to the coverage link below to pre-order yours now. %Gallery-163333%
Moleskine debuts app for iPad and iPhone
Moleskine has taken its popular journal and updated it for the 21st century with the debut of the Moleskine app for iPhone and iPad. The free app allows you to choose between font size, paper types (ruled, grid or blank) and text colors. It also comes with some now-standard features that most notes apps have, including Facebook and Twitter sharing. However, one unique feature is the "Map My Thoughts" function, which allows you to geotag a specific journal entry. This provides a way to go back into your journal at a later date and look at all your entries by location. I'm a fan of the physical Moleskine journals because they're tough and can take quite a beating while traveling. However, while it's nice to see Moleskine release an iOS app, I don't think it has much more to offer than any other note-taking app for iOS. In some ways it feels like it actually has less to offer; the app crashes quite a bit, and its settings are all over the place. Also, if any app deserved to have some page-flip eye-candy that resembles a physical journal, it's this one -- but the Moleskine app doesn't deliver. Not only does it lack any "cool" ways of jumping between journal entries, but it is also missing the basic scrollable text every other iOS app features. If your journal entry is longer than a page, it takes two awkward taps to go between pages in the same document. The Moleskine app is a good start for a 1.0 release. Besides a few bugs, the thing that keeps this app from really thriving is the lack of a companion Mac desktop app. Despite all the iOS note apps out there, I actually just use Apple's built-in Notes app on both my iPhone and iPad. While Notes lacks features, it has one advantage over many other iOS notes apps -- it has that companion Mac OS X app (in Mail.app). That's a huge advantage, because most things I take notes about are for writing projects I work on at my computer. It's very helpful to have my note texts actually available on the machine that I do most of my writing on. Moleskine is available now and requires iOS 4.2 or later. UPDATE: After a few more crashes, I can finally swipe to turn pages.
Moleskine launching iPhone and iPad cases: how would Hemingway play Angry Birds?
The way we saw it, it was Moleskine vs. the inevitable march of 1s and 0s that would eventually consume us all. No longer (actually, Moleskine already sells a Kindle cover, but we're temporarily ignoring that for argument's sake). Moleskine just announced a Digital Covers line of hybrid notebooks that include a pad of regular, "legendary" notebook paper alongside a cozy spot for your i-device of choice. Will this combination (some might say compromise) make you smarter, your prose more concise, your beard more intellectual? Of course it will. But at what cost? Sure, literature survived the decline of penmanship with the emergence of Mark Twain and his typewriter, and Douglas Adams championed the Macintosh to no end, but now that Moleskine has gone and sullied its own reputation we're finally ready to just go ahead and say it: the novel is dead.
Mmmm... new flavors of DODOcase iPad case are available
Remember the DODOcase? It was perhaps the first iPad case that we reviewed, a beautiful handmade Moleskine-like case made with traditional bookbinding methods. The case single-handedly revived the art of bookbinding in San Francisco, and it's sparked a handful of competitors. For most of the product's short life so far, the interior paper in the case has been red. Now the company will be providing a full spectrum of 11 colors (including red) to purchasers. Craig Dalton, co-founder of DODOcase, sent us a bunch of glamor shots of the cases that we've collected into a gallery to make you drool. An interesting note about the bookplate inside the cover of every DODOcase. Dalton noted that "We introduced the bookplate after we realized we couldn't possibly hand sign every one that went out the door. We signed the first 1000, then moved to a printed library card for another 1000 or so, then moved to the bookplate. We are passionate about the history of book binding and were really jazzed when someone pointed us towards the bookplate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookplate). I loved the idea of creating something that people could personalize with their name, but also feel like a part of the history of the book." If you have a hand-signed DODOcase sheltering your iPad, consider yourself very lucky. %Gallery-102182%
Moleskine case hides your iPhone, prison-style
I really do love the look of moleskine books. When you've got a well-worn leather moleskine book, bursting with notes and bookmarks, you sort of feel like you're holding onto the long lost notes of Dr. Henry Jones Sr. on the whereabouts of the Holy Grail. No? Just me? If you're completely nuts about all things moleskine, there's a new iPhone case that should be right up your alley. As seen pictured, the case looks like a hollowed-out moleskine book that fits your iPhone, complete with traditional elastic band. In essence, the iPhone replaces what would be oh-so-passe paper. Finally, a classy way to hide your cell in your cell during prison guard shakedowns. [via The Daily What]
A tale of two iPad cases: the Dodocase and M-Edge Trip Jacket
If you're like us, one of the first things you wanted to do after getting your iPad was to find a great case for it. Right off the bat, we weren't really that into Apple's offering, which is strangely 90's in its design aesthetic, though it does have a number of decent features if you're looking for a do-it-all scenario and don't have strong feelings on looks. For us, however, the goal was finding something that kept a low profile, shielded the slate from unnecessary grime, and made it easier to deal with. Oh, and we wanted it to look like a book. After reviewing the options, we've come up with two choices that we think are your best bets for turning your iPad into something a little more familiar, so here's our quick take on M-Edge's Trip Jacket, and the stunning, hand-made Dodocase. %Gallery-92232%