pen

Vista gets hands-on with tablet PCs

With all the talk about Windows Vista and the new security features, Sidebar widgets and Aero interface, it's worth taking a moment to look at what new features Microsoft has cooked up for tablet users.

Tablet PCs are gaining in popularity, and the first two retail-ready Vista laptops we've looked at (the HP tx1000 and Toshiba Portege R400) are both convertible tablet models that take advantage of some of Vista's new tablet-friendly features.

Tablet users who spend a lot of time using a stylus as their input device will appreciate Pen Flicks, a Microsoft-designed system of shortcuts … Read more

Inkless pen writes forever

When you finally become a celebrity (unless you already are one), this pen will mean you'll never have an excuse not to give out your autograph. Worse, you'll never have an excuse not to write a check when your career goes south.

That's because this writing instrument doesn't need ink to work--that's right, Skippy. Instead, it has a metal-alloy tip that can write on most types of paper and will never smudge or be erased, according to Spluch. That could come in especially handy when your bar napkins get wet.

A pen that may point to the future

We fully admit to having precious little information about this item, but the photo alone is simply too good to resist. According to a blog called Big Marketing for Small Business, "A revolutionary new miniature computer is being worked on in Japan that comes in the shape of a pen that you can slip in to your pocket." It's especially interesting given that the whole concept of "pen computing" became something of a laughingstock years ago, at least until the PDA stylus came along.

This pen-sized device supposedly projects a virtual keyboard and screen, recogizing … Read more

If James Bond needed a scanner

Here's yet another stocking stuffer for the 007 wannabe in your family. When he/she is on a mission and doesn't have a miniature spy camera to photograph secret documents, the "DocuPen RC800" might well come in handy.

Portable scanners have been around for years, but this one claims to be the smallest ever made. It isn't really pen-sized--unless you happen to have unusually large hands--but it's close enough, weighing only 2 ounces and scanning a full page in 4 seconds. The drawbacks are the price ($300 or $350) and a few usability issues … Read more

Doodling, with a digital twist

We may be fully ensconced in the Digital Age, but when it comes to note-taking in meetings, nothing beats an old-fashioned pen and paper.

The good news is there are gadgets that take those doodles (er, copious notes) and capture them digitally for later editing on a PC. One such product is the DigiMemo A402, which looks and feels a lot like a standard clipboard, only with a distinctly early 21st century touch.

Using electromagnetic technology, the product, which came to our attention via Tech Digest, lets you place ordinary A4-size paper on the pad and use the digital inking … Read more

Stealing from Vogue?

For the fashion mag hags looking to steal spread ideas from each other, this may be just the thing.

The DocuPen RC800 from Planon, scans in 24-bit color with a resolution ranging from 100 to 400 dpi, as well as in black and white. There have been several highlighter/pen scanners for text, but this one goes a bit further, allowing the user to capture color graphics and images.

Planon says that the DocuPen RC800 can scan a full page, with graphics or photos included, in just 4 seconds. The device, which works with Windows and Mac OSX or higher, … Read more