pen

It should be clear by now that I'm into digital pens.

Seattle-based Adapx is yet another company trying to make a go of it. Like many companies in the area, they use underlying digital pen and paper technology from Sweden's Anoto. Where Adapx is trying to make its mark is in creating software that takes those digital notes and integrates them back into one's digital workflow.

Its first product, Capturx built for Microsoft Office OneNote, is pretty garden variety note-taking, with the digital ink then going directly into Microsoft's OneNote. I got it up and running … Read more

Every few years, some new technology or application comes along that everyone's sure will miraculously conquer every obstacle in its path and, in some ludicrously short time period, make existing technology obsolete. And then, long after all the media hype fades away and investors' checkbooks disappear, well, nothing happens.

So what? Who cares? Why bother talking about our industry's bombs, the next big things that weren't? Well, for one thing, it's interesting to note how hungry we all are for news about new technology. It gets us excited. We complain about media hype, but love the hype.

It's also fascinating how existing technology has this way of hanging on by its fingernails way past the point of its predicted obsolescence. More importantly, we learn more from mistakes than we do from successes. That's part of the scientific method: hypothesis, test, learn, repeat until you get it right.

Lastly, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Those are all good enough reasons for me. So here are my top 10 technology flops. But first, some ground rules. I stuck to the last 50 years or so. And I avoided specific company products. We've heard enough about the IBM PCjr, Apple Newton, Microsoft Bob, and OS2 to last 10 lifetimes.… Read more

It's not that we're paranoid or anything, but we're certain that covert surveillance cameras are everywhere in our midst. It doesn't help that we're keenly aware of all the pen cameras, pen camcorders, and even pen DVRs on Crave.

Finally, there's a writing instrument designed to fight back against the secret societies that threaten our privacy. The "Auto Detective Pen" from Chinavasion will supposedly start flashing like crazy if it detects wireless signals within a 10-meter radius that could be used to operate spy cams and other clandestine gadgetry. As Uber-Review says, … Read more

Livescribe said Thursday that it will launch its digital pen at January's Demo trade show, with plans to ship the product "soon after."

The company, which unveiled its digital pen plans in May, had hoped to ship the product for this holiday season, but was forced to delay its plans, as first noted by CNET News.com back in August.

Livescribe is one of a handful of companies hoping there is still some ink in the well when it comes to the notion of pen computing.

Hoping to keep the buzz going until the product itself is … Read more

We thought the whole pen convergence trend had subsided after seeing the most recent combo devices with built-in camcorders and DVRs. But video is apparently only the beginning for the versatile writing instrument, which also has designs on the storage market.

There have been many USB memory pens, as Chip Chick has noted, but now things have gotten downright silly with an SD card reader. The "3 in 1 Cocos Card Reader" also has a USB drive and actually writes, hence the three functions, with storage of up to 512MB.

But unlike the earlier surveillance-oriented pens, we wouldn'… Read more

The pen seems to be the darling of the surveillance set. First we see one with a Bluetooth DVR, and now we hear of another with a built-in video camera.

The "ZRAD" pen camcorder apparently can't store any video but does send images and audio wirelessly to a PC or other receiver for display using "leading-edge stealth camera technology." It also captures only black-and-white images, though presumably this wasn't intended to create any Sundance or Cannes entries.

The pen-cam's $300 price would suggest that it's a serious device, but one never really … Read more

The pen has always been an inventor's paradise, used for everything from scanners and flash drives to aromatherapy and fishing. (We've even seen an inkless version that can write forever.) But one thing we never imagined was a DVR.

This Bluetooth DVR pen from Pacific Defence houses a wireless video recorder and microphone, as well as a motion sensor that will turn it on automatically when movement is detected, according to Gadget Venue. The 320x240 resolution isn't exactly feature-film quality, unless you're going for the grainy indie look, but it's better than the "Digital Spy Camera Pen,&… Read more

In another era, one would have drawn certain suspicion when taking a whiff from paraphernalia carried around in a purse or a pocket. But in 2007, illicit substances have been replaced by the endorphins of aromatherapy. At the same time, as evidenced by such combo devices as the cigarette lighter flash drive, it's not enough for a gadget to have just one function.

So the time was obviously ripe for something like the "Aromatherapy Pen," which has two points--one for ballpoint writing and another to dispense "pure Swiss essential oils," according to Gizmodiva. If this … Read more

In the next few months, markets in Asia and Europe will get a 12.1-inch widescreen tablet that plugs into a USB port and is fanless, silent and won't burn your thighs. It doesn't come with a keyboard, but it does come with a spiffy 1,024-pressure pen. And you don't even need to spend money on future upgrading because it doesn't need RAM or an operating system.

If you haven't already guessed, we aren't describing any ordinary tablet PC--we're talking about a real drawing tablet. Wacom's Cintiq 12WX is a smaller … Read more