Livescribe starts shipping, barely

Livescribe's Pulse can record notes from a meeting in both ink and sound, as well as perform other tasks, such as translating a handwritten word from English to Spanish.

(Credit: Jared Kohler/ CNET News.com)

Updated 4:15 p.m. with details on availability from a Livescribe e-mail.

Livescribe plans to start shipping the first preorders for its digital pen on Monday, narrowly hitting the company's already delayed target of shipping this month.

In a blog posting on Friday, CEO Jim Marggraff said the company has been "overwhelmed" by the number of preorders. The company's flagship device, the Pulse, combines a digital pen with synchronized audio notes and sells in two models. The 1GB device sells for $149, while the 2GB variety is $199.

Started by former Palm and LeapFrog executives, Livescribe garnered significant attention last May when it announced plans for its pen at the D: All Things Digital conference. However, the company was forced to delay its initial plan, which was to have the pen on the market for last year's holiday shopping season.

"As this demand has accelerated in the past month, we have continued working towards our first shipment date of March 31st, and have struggled to determine how to address preorders that far exceed our early production ramp," Marggraff said. "We noted Amazon's approach to handling shipment for their high-demand Kindle e-book, and ongoing Wii shortages, and have compared this to our own challenge, as a new company, to address our backlog."

However, since the company didn't ask for credit card information--and some of the preorders were made before the company announced pricing and specifications--it really won't know just how many customers it has until it starts taking actual orders Monday.

The company says that it will be shipping in "limited volume" and that those who have preordered will get an estimated ship date before having to hand over their credit card information.

"In retrospect, our hiatus in our communication is long overdue," Marggraff said. "I apologize for this. As I considered posting a blog entry numerous times, new concerns regarding growing demand arose, as well as meeting our growing backlog. Perhaps we were overly cautious in not wanting to send an ambiguous message. The time for ambiguity is past."

The company said those who have placed a preorder will be notified on Monday. I signed up for a preorder and haven't received an e-mail yet, but will update this once I do.

Update: I just got an e-mail from Livescribe saying I could order my pen. You can see the text of the e-mail here.

"We're ramping up our production to get you a Pulse smartpen as quickly as possible, and anticipate fulfilling the entire backlog of preorders by the end of May," Livescribe said in the e-mail. When I went to order, it told me that "Based on your position in our preorder list, your order should be available to ship within 4 to 6 weeks." (Did anyone get offered a sooner ship date?)

Also of note, Livescribe's e-mail said that, for now, the Pulse only works with XP SP2 or Vista SP1, nor can it run on a Mac that is using Parallels or VMware to run Windows.

[o2mcgovem-20822100750713932708]

Students

I wonder if they'll offer discounts for students... it seems like the ultimate note-taking tool and, if the price was right, I think it might take off.

[smartpen]

If you haven't bought a smartpen yet, then you can go to livescribe.com/store and use the code: SCRIBE5A20 to get a 5% discount! i have one, and it's so convenient when i start tuning out my professors :P

[AppleSuxLeo]

Apple/Mac SOL as usual...

Livescribe's e-mail said that, for now, the Pulse only works with XP SP2 or Vista SP1, nor can it run on a Mac that is using Parallels or VMware to run Windows. <br />How will "the bald one" spin this ???<br />Windows does more !

[cyn1c]

My Email

My email basically said the same thing as yours. It also says that I have to order by April 10 or my preferential treatment expires. Not in the budget this month, so I guess I wait a while.

[jcelano]

TRUTH REGARDING LIVESCRIBE PEN

LiveScribe is telling EVERYONE who ordered on the 31st of March that the ship date is 4-6 weeks. They are setting expectations low at this point so you don't look for it tomorrow.<br /><br />Bottom line: The Pen is not ready to ship yet and will not be ready until mid-April, Early May. They can not hold CC information for longer than 4-6 weeks so 1) they see what the TRUE demand is and 2) they get to delay AGAIN but hide it under the prospect of "Placing an Order"<br /><br />BTW, they are censoring their blogs and some posts are not appearing....

[LiveScribeOnMac]

I received my Pulse 1 GB LiveScribe pen yesterday - it's beautiful<br /><br />My primary computer is a MacBook 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of RAM running Mac OS X version 10.4.11. On this MacBook I use VMWare Fusion to run Windows XP Professional SP2 patched nearly current (about 4 weeks behind on patches).<br /><br />For a lark, and in defiance of LiveScribe saying no VMWare, I downloaded and installed the LiveScribe desktop onto the VMWare instance of XP Pro. I have successfully uploaded page and audio files from the new pen to the LiveScribe Desktop software loaded on XP in VMWare.<br /><br />I did not encounter any problems whatsoever, the pen was recognized immediately by XP in VMWare, and I didn't encounter any unusual behavior.<br /><br />In short, my 1 GB Pulse LiveScribe pen worked in XP Pro running in VMWare Fusion on a MacBook running Mac OS X 10.4.11.<br /><br />Sweet!

[suomynona2009]

&lt;p&gt; <br />Here a simple (and free) software to &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nodewave.com/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator"&gt;configure hidden options of Livescribe Desktop for Windows&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br/&gt; <br />You may then &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nodewave.com/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator"&gt;change the data storage folder location (known as "My Livescribe")&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, or &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nodewave.com/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator"&gt;change the internet connection proxy settings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;. <br />&lt;/p&gt; <br />&lt;p&gt; <br />If you want to use Livescribe Desktop at work, use it on multiple computers, and store your data on a safe drive, this software is for you ! &lt;/p&gt; <br /> <br />&lt;ul&gt; <br />&lt;li&gt;It let you change the 'My Livescribe' Folder location, you can set it to a mapped drive or a usb stick for instance.&lt;/li&gt; <br />&lt;li&gt;It can be used on two different Livescribe Desktop installations in order to share the same storage folder (for instance on your two computer, or among two different users wanting to collaborate), this by pointing the Livescribe Desktop storage folder to a drive mapped (or USB drive) shared between multiple computers.&lt;/li&gt; <br />&lt;li&gt;It can let you switch between multiple storage folders, for example a private one and a shared one.&lt;/li&gt; <br />&lt;li&gt;It can also let you configure manually the proxy settings.&lt;/li&gt; <br />&lt;/ul&gt; <br />&lt;/p&gt; <br />&lt;p&gt; <br />Here is the link:&lt;br/&gt; <br />&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nodewave.com/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator"&gt;http://www.nodewave.com/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt; <br />&lt;/p&gt; <br /> <br />&lt;img src="http://www.nodewave.com/cms/images/stories/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator/livescribe-desktop-configurator--storage-folder.png"/&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.nodewave.com/cms/images/stories/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator/livescribe-desktop-configurator--proxy.png"/&gt;

[suomynona2009]

Here a simple (and free) software to configure hidden options of Livescribe Desktop for Windows. <br />You may then change the data storage folder location (known as "My Livescribe"), or change the internet connection proxy settings. <br /> <br />If you want to use Livescribe Desktop at work, use it on multiple computers, and store your data on a safe drive, this software is for you ! <br /> <br />* It let you change the 'My Livescribe' Folder location, you can set it to a mapped drive or a usb stick for instance. <br />* It can be used on two different Livescribe Desktop installations in order to share the same storage folder (for instance on your two computer, or among two different users wanting to collaborate), this by pointing the Livescribe Desktop storage folder to a drive mapped (or USB drive) shared between multiple computers. <br />* It can let you switch between multiple storage folders, for example a private one and a shared one. <br />* It can also let you configure manually the proxy settings. <br /> <br />Here is the link: <br />http://www.nodewave.com/software/LivescribeDesktopConfigurator