Of all the devices we use on a daily basis, the most basic is possibly the humble pencil or biro. Apart from a match, a staple or a pin, I cannot think of too much more a one use “thing”.

But now I have to say that after 6 months use, the humble pen has changed the way I work; but this is no ordinary pen, oh no, this is the Livescribe Echo.

Many journalists use the Livescribe as for taking notes doing launches and press conferences, with its ability to record audio as well as using the special paper ‘notebooks’ to turn scribblings into images is legendary. But the party tricks of the Livescribe go much, much deeper than that.

For starters, there is a third party application to take those images (downloaded from the pen via a USB connection to the Livescribe Desktop software) into text that can be edited in Word or other word processor. Further, the audio recorded by the pen is sync’d to the image,. so say for example you have written the word “Livescribe” among a pile of other notes on a page, while simultaneously recording a conversation, by using special tap points on the page of the notebook, you can play back the audio from that point (the word “Livescribe”). Or you can jump to bookmarks you have set. You can even speed up or slow down playback speed.

Other clever tricks included in the programming of the pen’s intelligence are calculator commands, special characters (as well as a full keyboard) time and date, battery status and many more. The use of “pencasts” is also growing – sharing information made up of notes and conversations between collaborating people.

If there is one criticism of the Livescribe product, in my opinion anyway, it is that the usage of these commands is not adequately explained and shown.

For mine though, by far the best use is when the Livescribe pen is linked to 3^rd party applications. New ones are appearing all the time, but I now regularly use my Livescribe with Outlook, Evernote and OneNote on a regular basis. How does this work?

If I have written a note in my Livescribe notebook, by drawing a horizontal line left to right and back again, and then printing the word “OUTLOOK”, what I select is then sent to Outlook next time the Livescribe pen is docked to the PC containing the Livescribe software and add-in. You can also add up to 200 email names and addresses to the memory of the pen so have the ability to choose the recipient at the time of taking the note.

Similarly, scribblings, doodles, back of napkin style diagrams etc can be sent to OneNote for later modification, and notes, phone numbers etc sent to Evernote. To date there are more than 126 applications for the Livescribe pen in the Livescribe Store and the list is growing. They range from being free to on average $2 - $3 so not exactly about to break the bank!

The Echo Smartpen itself is not that inexpensive at $219 for the 4GB version, plus you must buy the special books to allow recording (or you can create your own with a colour laser printer), but in terms of productivity gains, this is quickly paid back. I have used my Livescribe Echo 4GB innumerable times for recording interviews or at product launches, and the combination of note taking and audio is unbeatable for accuracy as against having separate notes and a mini recorder.

Vendor:                               Livescribe / www.livescribe.com

                                           Available from Officeworks

Price:                                   $219 for 4GB version. $299 for 8GB

Auscam ratings 

 Ease of use:                        9

Features:                            9

Build quality:                       9

Value for money:                 8

We liked:                          Elegant idea, add on applications, scores of uses

 We didn’t like:                   Bit pricey, inadequate documentation, accessories can be hard to find

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com