Review: LiveScribe's Sky wifi smartpen – a clever bridge between paper and tablet

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">PERSONAL COMPUTING</a> <h1 id="ar_title">Review: LiveScribe's Sky wifi smartpen – a clever bridge between paper and tablet</h1> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/author/loz-blain/" rel="author">Loz Blain</a></p> <p><em>October 29, 2012</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <div class="has_comments"><a href="livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen#comments">4 Comments</a></div> <div class="has_pictures"><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures">10 Pictures</a></div> </div> </div> <div id="article_share_rail"> <div class="as_button"><div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/" data-send="false" data-layout="box_count" data-show-faces="false"></div><script type="text/javascript">_ga.trackFacebook();</script></div> <div class="as_button"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248/http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" data-via="gizmag">Tweet</a></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="g-plusone" data-size="tall" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/"></div></div> <div class="as_button"><iframe style="overflow: hidden; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248if_/http://badge.stumbleupon.com/badge/embed/5/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gizmag.com%2Flivescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen%2F24763%2F" width="50" height="60" id="iframe-stmblpn-widget-1"></iframe></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="pin-it-button" data-url="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248oe_/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/" data-image="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen.jpg" data-description="The new Sky wifi smartpen from LiveScribe now syncs your handwritten notes wirelessly to Evernote – as well as the audio it recorded while you were taking them."></div></div> <div class="as_button"><script type="IN/Share" data-counter="top"></script></div> <div class="as_button" id="reddit_button_rail"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_newwindow='1'</script></div> </div> <div id="hero_box" style="width: 530px;"> <a id="hero_link" href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen.jpg" title="The LiveScribe Sky Wifi smartpen" width="530" height="296" alt="The LiveScribe Sky Wifi smartpen"/></a> <div class="pic_caption"> <p>The LiveScribe Sky Wifi smartpen</p> <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures" id="gallery_link">Image Gallery</a> (10 images) </div> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div class="article_body"> <div id="top_unit"></div> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> <p>This is one of the coolest toys I've played with in years. LiveScribe's smartpens have the ability to instantly digitize anything you write in a notebook and send it to a tablet or PC as a handwritten note. But here's the cool part: they can also record the sound you were hearing when you wrote those notes, timecoded to each penstroke, so, for example, you can tap on a lecture note and hear exactly what the professor was saying when you were writing it. The latest LiveScribe pen, the Sky wifi smartpen, has built-in wireless connectivity that quickly syncs your notes, audio and all, with the ubiquitous Evernote application so you can read and play them back on your PC, tablet or smartphone. It's a fascinating device that revolutionizes the taking, usage and sharing of handwritten notes. We spent ten days with a LiveScribe Sky 4 GB.</p> <ul id="gallery_images"> <li><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#1" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-0.png" title="Evernote can search for text strings in your handwritten notes: scary stuff" alt="Evernote can search for text strings in your handwritten notes: scary stuff"/></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#2" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-1.jpg" title="The LiveScribe Sky Wifi smartpen" alt="The LiveScribe Sky Wifi smartpen"/></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#3" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-2.jpg" title="From notepad to tablet in one quick sync" alt="From notepad to tablet in one quick sync"/></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#4" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-3.jpg" title="The digitization is excellent. Green areas like my beautiful self-portrait here indicate t..." alt="The digitization is excellent. Green areas like my beautiful self-portrait here indicate t..."/></a></li> <li id="view_all"><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures" class="blue">View all<br/></a></li> </ul> <div class="clear_both"></div> <p>You'll have to forgive me if I sound overexcited here. The smartest pen I'd used prior to the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248/http://www.livescribe.com/" target="_blank">LiveScribe Sky wifi</a> was one of those ten-color jobbies where each ink has a different perfume in it, so it's safe to say I'm a complete newbie to the concept of smartpens.</p> <h2>What the heck is a smartpen anyway?</h2> <p>Here's the concept if, like me, you've never seen one before: you go into a meeting or a lecture, turn on your electronic pen, hit record and start taking notes as per usual in a specially coded notebook. The pen digitizes everything you write, so you can sync all your notes to your tablet, phone or PC – and it also records audio the entire time, time-coded to every stroke of your pen so that if you tap on anything you've written, it'll start playing the audio of whoever was speaking at the moment you took that note.</p> <div style="width: 530px; height: 283px; " class="article_img"><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#2" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-1.jpg" width="530" alt="The LiveScribe Sky Wifi smartpen"/></a></div> <p>So when you're looking back through your lecture notes and they're complete gobbledegook, you just tap on the bit you don't understand, and you can hear exactly what the lecturer was saying at that moment. Or if somebody disputes your meeting minutes, you can tap on the sore point and go back to the conversation as it happened.</p> <p>If your job involves taking notes, I'm sure you can imagine how useful this sort of thing would be.</p> <h2>How does it work?</h2> <p>LiveScribe's Pulse, Echo and the new Sky wifi smartpens all work on the same mechanism. They use a tiny camera to record the pen's position on specially marked paper, courtesy of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248/http://www.anoto.com/" target="_blank">Anoto</a>. If you look very closely at the paper, you can just make out a series of tiny dots. These dots tell the pen what page it's on, and what exact part of that page it's pointed at, so that as you write, every pen stroke is digitized at 72 dpi.</p> <div style="width: 529px; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 1px;" class="article_img"><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#8" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-7.jpg" width="529" alt="Close-up view of the Anoto smart paper – the patterns formed by these tiny dots identify..."/></a></div><div class="inline_caption" style="width: 529px; padding: 0;"><p>Close-up view of the Anoto smart paper – the patterns formed by these tiny dots identify each page as unique, and also plot out the entire area of each page for writing on</p></div><div class="clear_both"></div> <p>The LiveScribe Sky wifi has only a single button on it, and yet it's able to perform a whole bunch of different functions by tapping printed buttons drawn onto special pages in the included notebook. In fact just about everything you do with the pen is controlled by tapping it on these pictures of buttons. It's quite an odd feeling.</p> <h2>Integrating your notes with the cloud</h2> <p>You can use the LiveScribe pens exclusively with the notebooks provided (which are no more expensive than a regular notepad) and it's an exceptionally useful gadget. But the whole concept comes alive when you connect it to the Web and sync your notes with the cloud.</p> <p>And that's the killer new feature of the LiveScribe Sky wifi smartpen: the Pulse and Echo needed to be physically connected to a PC in order to sync content, but the brand new Sky, announced today, has inbuilt Wi-Fi connectivity that fires your notes and audio into the cloud and back out to all your desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones using the very popular and platform-agnostic <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248/http://evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote</a> app.</p> <p>So effectively, if a student carries a single notebook and a tablet at all times, they have access to the entire year's lecture notes and lecture audio, in a format that works pretty much the same as it does on paper: you can tap or click on any bit of writing on the page in Evernote, and it'll play the audio from that moment.</p> <h2>Is it any good?</h2> <p>Having played with a 4-GB LiveScribe Sky wifi for a week and a half now, syncing to an iPhone, an iMac and an Asus Transformer tablet, I can unreservedly say yes. It does exactly what it says on the tin, it syncs quickly and effortlessly, and the whole experience is extremely smooth.</p> <p>The audio recording quality is surprisingly good, even when the speaker is at a considerable distance. If you can clearly hear it where you're sitting, the pen will record it in a fashion you can understand. Yes, background noise, paper rustling and some pen use sounds come through as you write, but in all, the audio recording part is very well done.</p> <p>The pen stroke digitization worked without any hiccups for me. All my notes came through beautifully and legibly despite my kindergarten-level handwriting. The 72-dpi resolution scan probably doesn't make this a feasible tool for fine art drawing, but the Sky captures cartoons, diagrams and signatures perfectly.</p> <div style="width: 530px; height: 353px; margin-bottom: 1px;" class="article_img"><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#4" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-3.jpg" width="530" alt="The digitization is excellent. Green areas like my beautiful self-portrait here indicate t..."/></a></div><div class="inline_caption" style="width: 530px; padding: 0;"><p>The digitization is excellent. Green areas like my beautiful self-portrait here indicate that you can playback audio by tapping on them</p></div><div class="clear_both"></div> <p>Evernote integration is very easy to set up and works pretty much seamlessly – except for the fact that if you want to tap around and listen to your audio recording, it needs to launch an external browser window and download what can sometimes be a large audio file before it'll work. LiveScribe and Evernote are working together to bring the LiveScribe player into the Evernote app to remove this one slight speed bump. Evernote has already signaled its dedication to the partnership by offering all Sky wifi propack users 500 MB of storage per month, which should be more than enough even for heavy users.</p> <p>I was astonished to discover you can actually run text searches on your digitized scribbles, and Evernote does a surprisingly good job of finding the words you're searching for.</p> <div style="width: 529px; height: 381px; margin-bottom: 1px;" class="article_img"><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#1" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-0.png" width="529" alt="Evernote can search for text strings in your handwritten notes: scary stuff"/></a></div><div class="inline_caption" style="width: 529px; padding: 0;"><p>Evernote can search for text strings in your handwritten notes: scary stuff</p></div><div class="clear_both"></div> <p>There're a few printed buttons that aren't up and running yet printed into the LiveScribe notebook. Share buttons that fire LiveScribe notes to email, Google Drive, Facebook and Dropbox are set to come online early in 2013. And the developers have a few other ideas up their sleeves too, including audio and note transcription services, sketch-to-SMS apps and a range of other fascinating ideas that are being developed in-house or through the soon-to-be-released LiveScribe SDK that will allow anyone to develop software for the platform. We'll have to wait and see how much of this stuff sees the light of day, but at least the scientific calculator at the back of the notebook works fine!</p> <div style="width: 530px; height: 227px; margin-bottom: 1px;" class="article_img"><a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/pictures#10" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-9.jpg" width="530" alt="The back of the notepad has a scientific calculator app built in: neat!"/></a></div><div class="inline_caption" style="width: 530px; padding: 0;"><p>The back of the notepad has a scientific calculator app built in: neat!</p></div><div class="clear_both"></div> <p>Even before the addition of the Sky's Wi-Fi connection and wireless sync abilities, LiveScribe's Pulse and Echo smartpens are pretty astounding gadgets. The on-board batteries last for ages, and even the smallest capacity 2-GB pens will record as much as 200 hours of audio before you need to sync or clear them off.</p> <p>This is an exceptionally useful gadget, and a lot of thought has been put into making it simple and intuitive to use. I can see it being a transformative experience for students, a lifesaver for journalists, and a very handy tool for anybody in charge of taking meeting notes.</p> <h2>Pricing and availability</h2> <p>The LiveScribe Sky wifi pen is available from today through a range of retailers globally. The LiveScribe Sky will retail at US$169.95 for the 2-GB pen, $199.95 for the 4-GB version, and $249.95 for the 8-GB propack edition, which includes a 12-month premium subscription to Evernote.</p> <p>The release of the Sky should also push the price of the non-Wi-Fi, USB-syncing Echo pen down as well, so if the smoother wireless experience of the Sky doesn't seem worth an extra hundred bucks, the Echo is still an excellent option.</p> <p>Pen-and-paper note-taking is still a comfortable, easy way to organize thoughts and enhance verbal communication. Writing directly onto electronic tablets just isn't good enough to replace it yet – but the LiveScribe smartpen systems do an amazing job of blending the advantages of tablets and cloud storage with the sheer, simple usability of the humble pen. Brilliant stuff.</p> <p>Product page: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248/http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/smartpen/sky/" target="_blank">Sky wifi smartpen</a></p>   <div id="bottom_unit"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </div> </div>   <span class="title share_bar">Share</span> <div id="article_share_bar" class="dotsontop share_bar"> <div class="as_button fb_as_button"><div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/" data-send="false" data-layout="box_count" data-show-faces="false"></div><script type="text/javascript">_ga.trackFacebook();</script></div> <div class="as_button"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248/http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" data-via="gizmag">Tweet</a></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="g-plusone" data-size="tall" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/"></div></div> <div class="as_button"><iframe style="overflow: hidden; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248if_/http://badge.stumbleupon.com/badge/embed/5/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gizmag.com%2Flivescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen%2F24763%2F" width="50" height="60" id="iframe-stmblpn-widget-2"></iframe></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="pin-it-button" data-url="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248oe_/http://www.gizmag.com/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen/24763/" data-image="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen.jpg" data-description="The new Sky wifi smartpen from LiveScribe now syncs your handwritten notes wirelessly to Evernote – as well as the audio it recorded while you were taking them."></div></div> <div class="as_button"><script type="IN/Share" data-counter="top"></script></div> <div class="as_button" id="reddit_button_bar"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_newwindow='1'</script></div> </div>  <span class="title clear_left">About the Author</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="authorcontainer">  <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/author/loz-blain/"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/author_profiles/26.jpg" alt="Loz Blain" id="bio_pic"/> </a>   Loz loves motorcycles - at the age of two, he told his mother "don't want brother, want mogabike." It was the biker connection that first brought Loz to Gizmag, but since then he's covered everything from alternative energy and weapons to medicine, marital aids - and of course, motorcycles. Loz also produces a number of video pieces for Gizmag, including his beloved bike reviews. He frequently disappears for weeks at a time to go touring with his vocal band Suade.   <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/author/loz-blain/">All articles by Loz Blain</a> <br class="clear_both"> </div>  <div id="tags"> <span class="title">Tags</span> <div class="dotsontop"> <ul> <li>» <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/computer+human+interface/" rel="tag">Computer Human Interface</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/input+device/" rel="tag">Input Device</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/review/" rel="tag">Review</a></li> </ul> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> </div> <div id="bing_unit"></div>  <span class="title" id="comments">4 Comments</span> <div class="dotsontop"> <div id="comment-172537" class="a_comment"> <p>This pen is fine and all except it's the size of those fat pencils and crayons that children and OT patients use. This product would be far better served with a slimmer profile, at the very least the tip nearest the point should be closer in size to a standard pen or pencil. My other complaint is why use this bright blue display when a LCD screen would be for more elegant and able to get a much high pixel count. There is no doubt that technology is packet into this instrument, however, poor design execution will continue to relegate it and its users to well deserved quips and jokes. Technology follows two basic rules combining into one universal philosophy that this company seems to have forgotten: smaller is sexier and sex sells! </p> <span class="name">Spike Elex</span><br> <span class="date"> 29th October, 2012 @ 02:00 pm PDT</span> </div> <div id="comment-172669" class="a_comment"> <p>Having used pens of this nature, some, not all, are let down by the software and the character recognition. All depends on the users handwriting skills, neatly formed = easily translated, scribble then anything can happen. Also the life of the batteries and the life of ink are elements to take into consideration. </p> <span class="name">Phillip Willis</span><br> <span class="date"> 30th October, 2012 @ 04:28 am PDT</span> </div> <div id="comment-172936" class="a_comment"> <p>When they get one that will work on ordinary paper, then they'll have something worth buying. </p> <span class="name">Gregg Eshelman</span><br> <span class="date"> 30th October, 2012 @ 08:45 pm PDT</span> </div> <div id="comment-173260" class="a_comment"> <p>This will be my third LiveScribe, and I can say from years of experience that the technology is valuable, meaningful, and the build quality excellent ... even down to the ink. </p> <p></p> <p>With encrypting, this will be even handier to integrate with electronic medical records, since I continue to need to diagram and include interview comments. </p> <p></p> <p>I hope the company can continue to find ways to market to the progressive people who value the freedom and connection this little pen can provide. it is not for everyone, but definitely many more than are currently enjoying its capabilities. </p> <span class="name">Darick Nordstrom</span><br> <span class="date"> 31st October, 2012 @ 11:43 pm PDT</span> </div> </div> <span class="title">Post a Comment</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="comment_form_div"> <div id="comment_form" data-article="24763"> <div id="comments_login"> <form action="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/index.php" name="login_form" id="login_form" onsubmit="return false;"> <p class="bold">Login with your gizmag account:</p> <p id="login_status"></p> <label for="email">Email</label><input type="text" name="email" id="email" value=""/> <label for="password">Password</label><input type="password" name="password" id="password" value=""/> <input type="submit" value="Log In" class="med"/> <div id="options"> <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/register/">Register here</a><br> <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/new_password/">Forgotten your password?</a> </div> <input type="hidden" id="expired_comment" value=""/> </form> </div> <div id="facebook_login"> <p>Or <span class="bold">Login with Facebook:</span></p><br/> <div class="fb-login-button" data-scope="email" data-max-rows="1" data-onlogin="loginFUser(24763);" data-autologoutlink="true"></div> </div> </div> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div>  <span class="title">Related Articles</span> <div id="related_articles" class="dotsontop"> <ul> <li> <a href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/embedding-pencasts/11682/" title="All you need to start pencasting"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119184248im_/http://images.gizmag.com/related/embedding-pencasts.jpg" alt="All you need to start pencasting"/> </a> <a class="rel_title" href="/web/20121119184248/http://www.gizmag.com/embedding-pencasts/11682/">Pencasts let you spruce up your website with a few doodles</a> <p 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