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Pulse Smartpen Unveiling at DEMO Today!
Today marks a significant milestone in Livescribe’s history with the official unveiling of the Pulse smartpen by our CEO and Founder, Jim Marggraff, at the DEMO conference in Palm Springs. If you are interested in seeing Pulse in action, you can watch Jim’s demonstration broadcast live via www.demo.com at 4:30PM PST today.
For those who may be disappointed that you can’t yet place your order, please accept our sincerest apologies. We had hoped to begin taking orders on this date, but we felt it would be best to spend a few more weeks putting the finishing touches on the product and incorporating your feedback as well as the results of our user testing. Rest assured, we are committed to delivering Pulse to your doorsteps in March.
We also want to let you know that anyone who preordered the Pulse smartpen will be given “first dibs” when we start taking orders. We’ll be sending you an email with instructions to complete your purchase in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, please take a look at the new interactive Pulse demo, new product movies, and detailed specs on our site. We hope you agree it’s worth the wait.
Thanks for your patience - we truly appreciate your suggestions as we put the finishing touches on Pulse.
Best,
Byron
January 29th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Hi dear livescribe!
I’d so much liked to buy a couple of these, but apparently it can’t record writing on a regular notebook? I don’t want to give up of my moleskines.
Otherwise, sounds great.
Cheers
January 29th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Clearly the one of the most brilliant product ideas in years for business professionals and students. I’ve used the Cross and other pen-type units which were cumbersome, required a large clip-board unit to receive data, and had horrendous user interfaces. The Pulse is, in it’s best sense, a “human interface” tool. Combining contextual sound with handwriting (and doodling) capture, you’ll never miss a key point.
As a consultant, I’m constantly sketching ideas and taking notes in client meetings, and get so heavy into conversations with clients that I can be thinking, talking, and writing all at once…and I’ll miss a detail in the conversation. As simple as a meeting attendee saying “Bob handles that.” With the Pulse, missing contextual commentary from a meeting or presentation would never happen again.
Likewise, attending presentations (with reportedly 100 hours of audio, that’s at least a conference’s worth of presentations), never missing a point while you’re taking notes, and being able to click on something you wrote later and hearing the audio at that moment, would be invaluable.
I’ve spent a bundle over time on tools that supposedly would capture ideas, commentary, and notes, but NONE brought it together.
Looks like the Pulse’s take on contextual information capture and replay will finally provide the in-the-moment assistance I’ve been craving.
Looking forward to seeing it in action, and if you have a beta test program, let me know!
Wishing you great success,
Barry
January 29th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Oh man, quit taunting us! I received your email this morning and thought “wow, it’s shipping!” just to find out I have to wait another month or 2!
Seriously though, I look forward to getting my hands on the Pulse Smartpen!
Cheers,
Michael
January 29th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Ok I will hold on your words, the “first dibs” for the pre-order subscribers…
I don’t think a great Market Director like Byron will make any April Joke on the Livescribe fans (it not April yet I assumed). So I will patiently wait for the coming weeks (hopefully not three weeks later…) and see if Bryon will give the early pre-order subscribers some “miracles.”
January 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I understand the sincerity of the apology and the setbacks, and the desire to incorporate user testing. But this pen has already had a demo- back in August of last year- http://kara.allthingsd.com/20070830/livescribe-smartpen-the-entire-d5-demo-with-walt-mossberg-and-kara-swisher/
Wasn’t that the official unveiling?
In the interview, Jim says, “When the pen ships this fall,…” We have been waiting for this since August of last year. I hope that the demo today will show more than the first one.
January 29th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I am soooo anxious to have my Pulse in my hand!!! CDMann
January 29th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I too have waited since “last fall” and immediatly set up a google rss news feed to update me with “up to the minute” information. I am really , really disappointed that I have to wait more. I’d be willing to pay a premium like I did on the iphone to get it now…than wait. Again this is not the official launch.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I would rather wait and get any ‘known issues’ worked out.
Any update on when the pen will ship outside of the US? To Canada??
I have emailed several times, with now response…..
anxiously awaiting March….
January 29th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Can you buy the mic/ear buds before March? What format does the pen save the recordings in?
Thank you
Storm
January 29th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Is there any way to get this pen before March? I am going to the Holy Land (leaving February 25th) and was so hoping to have this in time to be able to record/take notes as our guide gives info on the different places we travel to. This would be an awesome blessing for my trip. PLEASE, if at all possible, I would like to purchase this in time for my trip.
Thank you so much for your consideration……..
January 30th, 2008 at 3:41 am
While this is a bit of a disappointment, I’m sure that the website/facebook site/testers have raised a number of issues you’d like to address before shipping, which is understandable.
Looking through press releases, I’m a little confused as to what software will be bundled with the pen. The ink to text transcription provided by Living Paper seems to be done by a human service on a pay-per-page model (http://www.i-newswire.com/pr147094.html). Will there be included computerized ink to text transcription that is not pay-per-page?
You have maintained that we will be able to print our own dot paper. Will we also be able to assign sheets of self-printed dot paper to a virtual “notebook” to make note management easier? Perhaps print a cover sheet with an “add page” dot that you touch, then touch the ID dot on the new sheet. Sheets could be re-arranged within the desktop software.
How will the sync work? Will notes stay on the pen by default with a copy transferring to the computer, will notes move to the computer by default and erase everything on the pen, do we get to choose between the two, and can we choose to have some things stay on the pen once sync’d and others not? Example: If I have classes where I’m taking notes with the livescribe, but I also do things like compose e-mail, can the class notes copy to the computer, but leave a copy on the pen, and the e-mail get copied and removed from the pen?
January 30th, 2008 at 5:29 am
I would like to know how much battery life the pulse has.
I think it s a very important spec. Thanks for answering.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:02 am
This is great. I wish I was a student or worked in the commercial world. Conversely,I see potential legal issues related to surveillance, similar to camera phones. Many sensitive facilities restrict any kind of electronic recording.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I just started the Spring semester of college. I am very disappointed to learn that I will not be able to use my Pulse Smartpen. However, I understand and hopes it will be shipped out in time for my birthday which is in March. The Pulse Smartpen will be a very nice birthday gift ;0)
January 30th, 2008 at 9:43 am
So, I still do not know if the Pulse Smartpen convert writing into text? Can anyone help me?
January 30th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Janne - in addition to college-sized notebooks, we’ll also be offering small leather journals.
Barry and all - thanks for your continued support of Livescribe and Pulse.
Storm - the 3D Recording Headset is included with Pulse.
B - great questions. If you go to our tech specs section, you’ll see what software is bundled with Pulse: http://www.livescribe.com/smartpen/techspecs.html.
Lisa - there will be ink-to-text options that will allow you to easily transcribe handwriting and audio into digital text. We’re partnering with Living Paper and they will provide ink to text transcription services. March seems to be perfect timing with your birthday and Pulse!
January 31st, 2008 at 6:36 am
I’ve owned other digital pens and they all made kind of an irritating clicking sound when the pen contacted the paper. Apparently it is caused by the tip of the pen moving inside the body and activating the recording of the pen movement. This clicking is quite noticeable in a classroom. Does the tip of the LiveScribe pen move and does it produce this clicking noise?
Thanks.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Is there any speculation as to how many pages of notes that can be stored in the pen?
If a student is taking notes in a class, how many pages can he/she expect to be able to take before the pen fills up? Or how about more of a use scenario. Perhaps a student is going to a study group, and he/she wants to take along the notes that will be covered on the exam. How much can be stored in the pen? Is there a way to know how much memory is left, so that it doesn’t stop working in the middle of a meeting/class/conference?
January 31st, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Hi !
I’m wondering :
1/ how long can we use the pen until the battery is empty ?
2/ how long to recharge the battery ?
Thanks for your answer.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I’d like the $50 off the 2GB pen. lol
February 1st, 2008 at 3:37 pm
For the patience and extended loyalty of us faithful; who have followed livescribe since D5, would you be willing to extend us the same courtesy of a $50 coupon for early adopters as you did for those that went to DEMO 2008? I have been chatting up this product since last fall to my graduate students, along with my wife’s network of friends at her law school. I even applied to be marketer at two different universities and received no feed back at all. None!!!! Not even a thank you for applying. Please take the time to respond to this email, “word of mouth” is a powerful marketing tool, please don’t let me down and don’t forget us faithful.
Thanks for your prompt reply and consideration.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I think the 2 killer apps that can make or break this pen are:
1. FREE handwriting to text conversion app (a standalone like MyScript or something which could leverage the existing tech that comes built-in with MS Office)
2. FREE templates to print the required dot papers on ANY laser printer. We should be able to print these in multiple sizes from wallet-sized to legal paper.
Otherwise, thanks for a great effort, and you guys rock!
February 1st, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Besides the pen, what do you get when you order the Pulse?
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
Is it possible to leverage the SDK towards UML spec’s ? that is a drawing is done on the DPS paper and then the an appliations converts the drawing into UML whch is ready for Consumption.. along with direct Audio capture for each of the coomponets within the UML..
Methinks that will be killer app in terms of agile / next wave of SDLC’s mehods.. not to mention the host of apps that can be written for various vertical.. think of a doctors scribble on a patients DPS and it goes routed to medical records to the pharmacy etc in a closed /secure loop infrasctructure ?
me likes this app. ..when does it ship to canada ?
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Ive tried similar devices inthe past, but this one looks like someone finally got it right! I’m ready to buy one the minute it becomes available.
Where can I pre-order one? Is there a wait list?
February 4th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Wow, please let the weeks flow by quickly. This pen will make doing grad school notes and paper writing so much easier. Taking notes will be easier as I won’t have to do it twice. Your idea in general is brilliant. If you need more testers . . . ya know . . . *arm raised*. Rebecca
February 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Catherine, you can pre-order the pen on the main page of our site. In the upper right-hand corner you will see an area to fill out your name, email address and zip code. Upon submitting your pre-order information, we will keep you informed the closer we get to the shipment date in March.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Lora,
The Pulse smartpen comes with a 3D Recording Headset, USB mobile charging cradle, single subject notebook, carry all soft case, ink cartridge refills and stylus, and the Livescribe Desktop software. Thanks for your interest!
February 6th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Jason & Livescribe team,
Could you pls let us know whether we will be able to print the dot paper for free or is there a per-page cost associated with it? Also, are the ink refills standard or are they special and can only be ordered from Livescribe?
As to my other qn, I did some research and found that it will be integrated with MyScript (although it won’t be free) so that’s good!
Thanks for bringing us such a wonderful product…
February 6th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I see several of you have asked about battery life and recording times just to name a few, you can find answers to these spec questions at http://www.livescribe.com/smartpen/techspecs.html
enjoy.
-Livescribe
February 7th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Is there any way to see (try) how the desktop software works before buying the pen?
I guess it should be possible to put some notes online for everybody to play with it…
February 7th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Where is the battery life on the spec page ?
Can’t find it.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:53 am
To FSpiller:
The tech specs don’t say anything about the battery life…
To Livescribe team:
Is there any email address we can send our questions to instead of this blog? I’ve asked 3 questions - none was answered
February 9th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I would also like to see the desktop software and play with the options before buying the pen if that’s possible. Do you need any beta testers?
February 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Any chance that the $50 discount for the 2 GIG pen that is referenced in the demo recording could be made available to those of us who have been waiting and signed up for the early preorder? The early adopters can make great word of mouth testimonials that would justify such a break. Thanks for considering the question. It would help.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
On the upside, it will only be two more weeks until we can get our hands on one, assuming you pre-ordered (I sure did).
February 14th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I’m in a long-distance relationship, and as I eagerly await my Livescribe Pen, I thought how cute would it be to write love-letters to my far away boyfriend, and be able to email them to him complete with sound?
Oh well. Next Valentine’s Day!
February 16th, 2008 at 6:48 am
I am betting this will not be available until the final week of March…or the first week of April (even to those that pre-ordered)….anyone wanna bet? I am wiling to bet the 2gb version I have on (back)order…
February 16th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Can you tell us when, in March, this will ship? Beginning, middle, end, etc….
Thanks!
February 19th, 2008 at 6:34 am
I have a couple of questions:
Can I connect the Pen to and play it on iPod?
Do you plan to add more software in the future?
How about adding a camera to the pen in the future?
Is the translation software limited to a number of languages, for now? And what are the available language now?
What happens when I signed up for the pre-order? I didn’t get a response whether I am on the list. Or what should I do to be on the list?
Regards,
Manit
February 19th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
@JC
Based on my experience with their delays, either the end of March or perhaps even longer. I think it is best not to bet on early March even for all those early pre-order people. If you are interested digital notes input, tablet PC has already reach a sufficient stage that students could take digital notes comfortably.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:18 am
@ JC
Just make sure don’t buy any other brands of digital pen. I have collected and used many of them. They are just horrendous. If you are interested just in digital pen, I suggest you wait for Livescribe if it ever comes out as it vaguely promises…
February 21st, 2008 at 1:09 am
I am very concerned about the battery life since ALL the other ” smartpens ” on the market such as Nokia’s or Logitech’s only have up to 3 hours of writing. They also use the Anoto technology and don’t have to record.
How much time will the Pulse last ?!!!
February 21st, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Like the way you use laptop, I think you have to conserve your running battery whether you need all the recordings, translation, recordings at the same time : ) I think it will very likely have the exact same or not 1 or 2 hours longer than IO2. I think it will also be a good idea if you have your laptop with you so that you can charge your mighty and always delayed pen.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:52 am
I reviewed the demo posted January 29th, 2008 and at the end of the demo an offer of $50.00 was offered to those who stop by the Livescribe booth. Will this be offered to those of us who are pre-ordering the Pulse? I would love it if I can have that same offer. Can’t wait until this pen arrives? Just wondering how much longer do I have to wait because I do have study for some courses and this pen will come in handy.