In 2002 I got my first digital pen, which captured handwriting as an image file, eliminating the need for paper notes. Or so I thought. Unfortunately, my full-speed penmanship was just as illegible in electronic form. Six years later, Livescribe solved that problem. Its Pulse uses the same technology to track its location on specially printed paper, but it pairs the text with an audio recording. [ Read Full Story ]

Like previous digital ink pens, the Livescribe Pulse converts your writing to searchable computer files. The Pulse, though, adds audio recording synchronized to your handwriting. Point the pen to a spot in your notes (or click on your computer screen), and hear what was said when you wrote it. That sounds good on paper, but will it work, er, on paper?

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We first saw the Livescribe Pulse "smartpen" in action at the DEMO conference last month, but today CEO Jim Marggraff stopped by to give us a closer look.

When you use the Pulse to write on paper printed with a special microdot pattern, it recognizes its exact relative location on the page and captures a digital file of your pen strokes (complete with full character and word recognition) along with audio. The pen can also then interact with written words on the page in many interesting ways, including live audio translations into multiple languages of any word you tap.

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At the DEMO conference in Palm Desert, California yesterday, the audience of 500-some technology veterans watched in rapt fascination as a company called Livescribe introduced its brilliant invention: a pen.

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