![]() ![]() Since it uses Bluetooth 4.0 rather than the more power-hungry Wi-Fi, it should get much more than the Sky's six hours or so of note-taking battery life. You pop off the top of the pen to charge it through micro-USB. It doesn't have a display, like previous pens did instead there's a clip with a light on it, which turns various colors to illustrate the pen's on-off and pairing status. It feels plasticky, although Livescribe worked with a pen designer to make it look a lot more like a fountain pen. The new pen is lighter and rounder than the existing models. An Android software version is also coming next year, the company said. Livescribe defends itself by saying that an iPhone's mic is much more sensitive than the pen's mics were - you'll get better sound recordings and don't hear the scratching sound of pen on paper like you do with the current units. That means you need to always have two gadgets out on the table, not just a pen and a pad. The pen doesn't have a microphone, and it uses your iOS gadget's mic to record audio. Even though you're still writing on paper, not on a screen, you must pair your pen with an iOS device. It's an amazing product.īut as a non-iPhone user, the Livescribe 3 immediately annoyed me. When my notes aren't complete enough, I just tap in my notebook and hear exactly what the interviewee was saying. At trade shows, I record every interview with my Livescribe. ![]() I've had all three generations: the Pulse, the Echo, and the Sky. I've used a Livescribe as my primary note-taking device for several years. ![]() Its newest smartpen, the $149 Livescribe 3 ($299.00 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window), is no longer a standalone gadget: if you want to take notes with this slimmer, lighter, classier pen, you need an iPhone or iPad. The company keeps zigging and zagging on how to best embody this idea, though. Livescribe has a great core idea: to make "smart pens" that record your writing and synchronized audio, letting you play back your "pencasts" for your own edification and that of others. How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.Hook it up to a Mac or a PC, and you can upload notes to Google Drive, Facebook, Evernote and OneNote. T he Sky pen’s wired predecessor, the 2GB Echo smart pen ($120), is also still available. The Livescribe Sky pens cost $170 for 2GB (200 hours recording), $200 for 4GB (400 hours) and $250 for 800GB (800 hours). It s battery lasted for weeks as long as I remembered to turn it off regularly. While serious artists will need Wacom-level sensitivity, Livescribe’s pen is good enough for casual sketches. The Sky pen is also more portable than even a tablet with a supported pen. An instructor could share “ pencasts” that explain trigonometry ratios, for instance, while students take interactive notes to spell out the formulas and shapes during class. Students and teachers could benefit, too. This makes it a great tool for journalists covering events. For example, you can always take a picture of handwritten notes from your smartphone and send it to Evernote, so why pay between $120 to $250 for a smart pen? One reason is that Livescribe does cool stuff other devices can’t, including syncing audio recordings and written notes. Do you need the Livescribe Sky pen? For most people, that’s an easy no. ![]()
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