Still a smart pen, but missing features dumb down the experience

Livescribe’s latest “smartpen” builds upon the success of the original Pulse, which we rated five stars in the Apr/09 issue. And while Livescribe has been hard at work adding new features and redesigning the pen itself to make it even better, the lack of bundled accessories and some missing software features hamper what’s otherwise a great package.

To use the Echo, you take notes on special paper from Livescribe that has a unique dot pattern. A camera at the tip of the pen tracks your movements, capturing your notes and drawings in digital ink as you write. The onboard mic also allows you to simultaneously record audio, and you can skip around in your audio file by tapping on written notes. For writers, students, or anyone who gets stuck in lots of meetings, the Echo almost seems like magic. You can (of course) connect your smartpen to your Mac to move notes back and forth, and you can add everything from games to foreign-language dictionaries via apps purchased at the Livescribe website (livescribe.com).

While the fundamentals are the same as earlier Livescribe models, the Echo also has some clever new capabilities. The Launch Line feature lets you quickly launch apps downloaded on your pen by tapping on their written names, which is aces over scrolling through a list of apps. And you can now password-protect your notes in order to lock down sensitive information--although it’s a single password for everything, rather than more flexible file-specific passwords.

Unfortunately, the Mac version of Livescribe Desktop (the software used to manage your notes and recordings) doesn’t include the new Custom Notebooks feature of its Windows counterpart, which allows users to mix and match notes from different physical notebooks into organized digital collections. It’s a shame, too, because we quickly amassed meeting notes and story ideas across several Livescribe notebooks--the ability to tie those all together on our Mac would certainly be a boon to productivity. On the other hand, the new Pencast feature makes it easy to export interactive animated notes, complete with recorded audio, and pass them on to a colleague.

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For pen-and-paper organizers, the Echo’s searchable text and audio-recording features can add new dimensions to your note taking. Unfortunately, the Mac software lacks the Custom Notebooks feature, and the nifty 3D recording headphones are now a $29.95 add-on.

Echo Smartpen
COMPANY: Livescribe
CONTACT: www.livescribe.com
PRICE: $169.95, 4GB; $199.95, 8GB
REQUIREMENTS: Intel processor; Mac OS 10.5.5 or later
Makes your written notes searchable and shareable from your Mac. Good recording quality from onboard mic. Connects via a standard mini-USB cable. If you have a 600dpi printer, you can print your own dot paper.
Mac software lacks useful Custom Notebooks feature. 3D recording headphones are now an optional add-on.