LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen

In the green room at PSFK Conference SF, speaker Kevin Allison from the Financial Times showed us a pen he’s been using, the LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen. The pen came out last year, but this was the first time we saw it in action. Basically, if you thought the astronaut pen was something, prepare to have your mind blown.

Astronaut pen is to LiveScribe pen what astronaut ice cream is to frozen robot dessert of the future.

This pen can transcribe handwritten notes taken on a special notepad and link them to audio recordings. It can also perform simple math and language translations. Everything can be indexed on a PC, and played back on the computer or by, yes, tapping the notepad. This is an amazing tool for journalists such as Allison, since he can scribble shorthand thoughts and easily find the corresponding audio. See this video of the pen in action from the New York Times‘ David Pogue.

With gee-whiz technology like this, it’s always hard to predict demand. Will people actually use it? Or just think it’s cool? In this case, the price (below $200) makes it practical technology that will likely see widespread adoption.