I've recommended the Livescribe Pens on countless TV and Radio broadcasts over the years, but I am disappointed in the direction take by the company with the newest product in the line.
Like earlier models, the Livescribe 3 has a camera near the ballpoint that records everything you write in special Livescribe notebooks. The older versions not only recorded what you wrote, but also what was being said at the same time. This made the smartpens the ideal accessory for students and business people, alike. Depending on the pen, the digital capture would be uploaded to Evernote via cable or wifi and you could watch your notes playback as you listened to the audio. You could even touch the paper with the pen tip, or click on the screen version of your notes to jump to a particular spot in the audio.
The Livescribe 3 changes the whole approach by making it an accessory to your smart phone. To be sure, the new model is sleeker, looking more like an expensive pen than a digital gadget. From a usage point of view, the best improvement in the design is that the ballpoint is now retractable. The black and chrome design has a slight retro, almost Art Deco, feel. The pen has slimmed down and gotten a makeover, but at what price?
In a paradigm shift, the new pen is now an accessory to your smart phone. Gone, now, is the on-board microphone. If you want to record your notes and sync them to audio you can, but you must do the audio recording on your phone. To my way of thinking this is a giant step backwards. You now have two devices to keep in sync, to remember to charge, to juggle in your hands. As far as I can tell the only reason for this change is so that the pen could be a bit smaller.
Worse, version 3 of the pen doesn't support Android yet.
So, Livescribe has gone from a dedicated device that was supported on just about any platform via Evernote, to a less functional gadget that only works with certain iOS devices.
There are some improvements over earlier models. It makes an attempt at transcribing your words into text. Also, as you write your words appear on the iOS device immediately. Gone are the days of syncing. Notes can automatically be turned into calendar events, pretty cool.
Still for a few dollars more you can still buy the more capable Sky WiFi Pen. I think it is well worth it.
