The Livescribe paper-based computing platform – a smartpen, paper, software applications, and developer tools - was announced on May 30, 2007 at the D: All Things Digital Conference; after a series of delays in 2007, the pen was expected to ship Q1, pens are now available for purchase. The pen, which is about the size and weight of a large Montblanc pen, has two microphones to record sound, a speaker for playback, a small OLED display and an internal computer chip that captures handwritten notes and drawings.

The Livescribe Pulse pens are available for purchase at two price points: $149.95 and $199.95. The former includes 1G of memory while the latter includes 2G.

“The Livescribe platform takes paper-based technology to a radical new level, integrating software applications with physical paper," said Rodney Brooks, Director of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. "I see the smartpen as just the beginning for a new class of device with almost unlimited potential.

One very important point that is not advertised is that OCR (Optical Character Recognition - Writing to Text conversion) is not possible on the Livescribe Pulse and is not expected to be until Q4 2008. Livescribe and their smartpen are far more capable than the current competition.

In addition, many features including the highly touted "translator" are not available at launch, but they do include a limited translator application. The ability to print your own paper is to be introduced summer '08.

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