My Z News

Livescribe, the company whose magic smartpen makes taking notes a whole lot easier, is back with completely revamped capabilities and cloud integration that almost makes you want to be a student again.

The company’s new Sky Wi-Fi smartpen has been recording what you hear and synchronizing it to what you write since it launched in 2008, but it now digitizes and syncs notes across iOS and Android devices via the cloud.

The new pen – which is available starting Monday at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Livescribe.com — is a huge leap forward for the company who already makes the note-taking process that much more painless for students and business people.

If you’re not familiar with how it works, here’s a quick rundown: When taking notes with a Livescribe pen in its accompanying black notebook – which features high-tech dot paper for digitizing the content — the pen records everything you write and hear. To replay the audio, users can tap a word in the section of notes and the recording will begin playing from that exact spot.

Now, the updated pen takes it a step further with cloud capabilities, so it’s possible to access content remotely via smartphones, tablets and PCs. It also launched a full integration with social networks and Evernote, allowing users to wirelessly send digitized notes directly to their accounts.

Although notes could be sent to Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox and Evernote in the past, mobile integration in the cloud for the first time. (The connector buttons for the social networks will be available starting early 2013.)

The new cloud capabilities shine via the service’s existing Pencast feature in Evernote, a note-taking app which helps users keep track of to-do lists, save ideas and stay organized. Similar to watching a movie, a Pencast relives exactly how notes were taken: After pressing play, audio starts and notes that were taken at that time will appear on screen in sync.

Evernote, which already has more than 40 million subscribers, is a natural fit for Livescribe because its userbase is already note-taking savvy and looking for new ways to stay organized. The news about the partnership comes just a few days after Evernote announced more than 100 new features to its platform.

Developers will be able to integrate content created with the Sky Wi-Fi smartpen into apps and services too. The company announced on Monday the pre-release of the Livescribe Mobile SDK (0.9), with limited availability starting in December. A launch for Android is expected to debut before the end of the year, while iOS is planned for early next year.

Because the Mobile SDK will allow the smartpen to connect directly with tablets and smartphones via Wi-Fi, new opportunities will undoubtedly open for developers looking to integrate the pen into platforms.

The Sky Wi-Fi smartpen comes in various models with different pricing options: 2GB (200 hours of audio recording time), $169.95; 4GB (400 hours), $199.95; 8GB (800 hours of audio, plus a one-year subscription to Evernote Premium), $249.95.

Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/29/livescribe-sky-wi-fi-smartpen/