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Livescribe 3 smartpen now sends your notes to Android devices
Making good on its promise back in January, the Livescribe 3 smartpen now works with Android devices. A preview version of the requisite app is now available for download, ready to equip devices running KitKat and newer versions of Google's mobile OS. In addition to the Livescribe+ Preview Edition app, you'll also need to install the Livescribe Link Preview Edition software, with the latter handling Bluetooth pairing duties so you don't have to swipe over to the setting menus every time. If you'll recall, using the high-tech pen with Livescribe's paper notebooks automatically digitizes your scribbles to the companion app on your trusty mobile device. Folks who are eager to employ the peripheral can grab the either the Livescribe 3 or Livescribe 3 Pro Edition at a $25 discount during this so-called preview period ($130 and $175, respectively). Unfortunately, you'll have to be in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or the United Arab Emirates to take advantage, but a global launch is expected in the coming weeks. We're hoping the final software arrives then, too.
Livescribe 3 smartpen will work with Android devices this spring
Starting this spring, Android users lusting after the Livescribe smartpen will no longer have to envy their iPhone- and iPad-toting peers. The company has finally developed a Livescribe+ app especially for Android, which will make Livescribe 3 compatible with select devices. Yup, it unfortunately won't work with every Android phone and tablet out there, only those running KitKat or higher with support for Bluetooth Low Energy peripherals. It retains the iOS app's features, so users can transfer handwritten notes recorded by the pens as digital text to their devices and sync audio recordings with those notes. But LiveScribe Director of Product Management Greg Wong says the app "is much more than a port" of the iOS version. "We've approached every aspect of this app," he said, "from the color palette to the user interface, to optimize for the Android platform and customer expectations."
Livescribe 3 smartpen digitizes notes straight to your iPad, starts at $150
Livescribe broke new ground last year with the Sky WiFi pen that could transfer handwritten and audio notes straight to the cloud (well, to your Evernote account anyway), so that they'd be accessible anywhere there's an internet connection. Having to jump on WiFi to send and retrieve those notes didn't make it the most convenient thing when out and about however, especially if you rely on your smartphone or tablet as a daily driver. Enter the Livescribe 3, which offers a solution to that problem. The company's latest smartpen is positioned as a companion specifically designed to work in concert with a compatible mobile device, which in this case only applies to those that run iOS. Once paired via Bluetooth LE, notes written in a Livescribe notebook will automatically appear on the accompanying Livescribe+ app. Indeed, the application and mobile device are so integral to the Livescribe 3, that unlike the Echo or the Sky, the 3 does not have a built-in microphone. Instead, it hands off the audio recording to your iPhone or iPad when you hit the record button either on the paper or the app. As before, it'll sync the results with your scribbled notes -- the app actually highlights the coinciding text as the audio playback occurs. Of course, this means that these so-called "pencasts" are simply not possible if the pen is disconnected from the device. However, notes written while not connected will still sync up later on.
