With September rapidly approaching, I am getting ready for my Junior year of high school. I have all my books, pens and paper but after a month working beside the ‘Gadgetress‘ in the Register’s Marketplace section, I’m becoming curious about what sorts of gadgets I could take back to school this year.

Computers

The first thing that comes to mind is a computer. I am an Apple person, but while searching Dell’s website, I happened upon a “green” desktop computer. The Dell Studio Hybrid is advertised as 80 percent smaller than the average desktop computer. That makes it a great space saver for my small desk. Dell says it uses 70 percent less power. For people who want to be even greener, the computer is available with an outer cover made from bamboo instead of the usual plastic. It is available with up to 4 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive and an optional built in TV tuner that lets you watch TV right on your computer. The Dell Studio Hybrid starts at $499.

The main drawback of a desktop computer is that, as its name implies, it is designed to be used on a desktop. For students who want a computer in class everyday, a laptop is the way to go. For school, the Apple MacBook is my number one pick. It has a 13-inch screen, which is convenient for carrying in a backpack – with a specially designed laptop compartment, of course. Built in Wi-Fi makes connecting to the Internet for “research” quick and simple. You can even download Schoolhouse 2, a program that helps keep track of assignments, organize notes and follow grades. 2 GB of RAM, a 250 GB hard drive and a built-in camera makes this a great computer. The MacBook starts at $1099.

Digital Pens

For students who want digital notes but don’t want to lug around a computer, digital pens offer a solution. Livescribe has a product called the Pulse Smartpen, which creates a digital copy of everything you write. It also makes audio recordings that can link to what you write. Transfer the notes to your computer and review them later, along with the linked recordings, to find out exactly what the teacher said. The Pulse has two major drawbacks: it only works with special paper and it is not compatible with Apple computers. The Pulse Smartpen costs $150 for a 1 GB model, and $200 for the 2 GB model at livescribe.com. Each gigabyte records up to 100 hours.

Another Digital pen option is the Dane-Elec Zpen. It works with any paper but does not record sound. While the Smartpen stored the notes internally, Dane-Elec’s pen saves notes on a special USB drive that clips to the top of your page. Plug the drive into your computer (Macs work just fine) and you can convert the notes into digital text. The Zpen has a 1 GB capacity and costs $90.

Portable storage

Any student who has completed an assignment on one computer only to be faced with the problem of getting it to another knows the importance of flash drives. I would recommend the Kingmax Super Stick. It is incredibly small, barely bigger than a paper clip, but it is available with as much as 8 GB of storage space. Despite its small size, this drive is also very solidly built. A friend of mine has one and even after years of her abusing it, the Super Stick still works. The 4-GB Super Stick is $9.75 at Amazon.com, plus $7 shipping.

Beyond books

That covers the academic side of things but what about the fun parts of school? Dances, school events and time with friends are as important as classes. My pick is the Flip Mino, a simple video camera that fits in your pocket. It does not have many bells and whistles. Basically, you press a button and it starts recording. It can store 60-minutes of video and it has a 4-hour rechargeable battery. Once the camera is filled, pop out the built-in USB arm and attach the camera up to your computer’s USB port. Transfer your video to an editing application or upload it directly to YouTube or other video-sharing site. The Flip Mino is around $150.

A quick word about what you do not need. While researching for this article, I went through several emails from PR people advertising items for back to school articles. I was very surprised by some of the items advertised such as a huge LCD monitor with a $500 price tag. As a student you do not need a giant monitor; you just need to be able to write in Word, read online and play some games when you take a break.

Another recommendation was a 160 GB portable hard drive. Spending $100 dollars on a hard drive you will never be able to fill as a student is pointless.

My personal favorite recommendation was for the iCarta iPod Stereo Dock and Bath Tissue Holder. It is an iPod dock for the bathroom that also functions as a toilet paper holder. I have no idea how this will help you as a student but if you want to get one just to have a good conversation starter when you get back to class and are asked about your summer, they are available here.

With these gadgets, any student will be ready for anything school can throw at them. So Mom, can I borrow your credit card?

I’m a terrible note taker. Half the time I’m focussed so intensely on what the other person is saying that I forget to take notes for brief periods of time. Later when I get back to the office I rack my brain trying to remember what was said. Here’s a solution to fill in the blanks on those notes you forgot to take. It’s a regular sized pen with a built in audio recorder(1GB or 2GB of memory) - plus it digitizes your notes for upload to your computer or the web. This is a PERFECT back to school item for students - as well a great idea to take notes in business meetings (all of your notes can be shared or converted to PDF). My evaluation unit is enroute - but my friend Mark just received one - and has these early thoughts on what he calls “The iPhone of Pens”…

… [visit site to read more]

Step 1: Get on a Schedule

Even if you set your own class schedule, chances are you are going to have to get up before noon. So, you are going to need an alarm clock that gives you that jump start you need in the morning. I can guarantee that no clock will satisfy on more levels than the Orgazmo. Just set the alarm and an invigorating female orgasm will gently coax you from your slumber. Available for $30. [Gobaz via Link]

Step #2: Dress For Security

If you go to a public school, you will probably find yourself caught in a crossfire at one point or another. Therefore, It is essential that you come to school with the appropriate bullet-proof protection.

Defender Hoodie: Features 2mm of Type IIA bulletproofing in the torso, which is enough armor to stop a 9mm full-metal-jacket round at a velocity of 1,090 feet-per-second. Too bad its only for police officers and security personnel in the UK. And the $845 price tag sucks pretty hard too. [Bladerunner via Link]

Backpack Shield: Made from 13 layers of K-29 Kevlar that could stop a round from a .44 Magnum. Available on a Back to School sale for $155-$180. [Backpackshield via Link]

Step #3: Dress for Success

Dressing up for school isn't all about personal style and deflecting bullets, it is also about getting an edge. No matter what subject you are in, there is an article of clothing that can help you cheat like a champ.

Math Equations Shirt: Available for $15. [Sanchez Circuit]

Calculator Belt Buckle: Available for $10. [BeWild]

Science Crib Sheet Shirt: Available for $25. [Computer Gear]

US History Cheat Shirt: Available for $17. [Snorg Tees]

Step #4: Get the Right Supplies

Sure, you need a decent laptop, calculator, notebooks and the like but may I also suggest:

Doggy Style Pencil Sharpener: Those pencils aren't going to sharpen themselves people. Might as well have a good time doing it. [Link]

LiveScribe Smartpen: This high-tech pen records the audio in the classroom then syncs it with the notes you take. All of that information can be indexed on a PC or you can play back specific portions of audio by tapping the corresponding section on your notepad. Available in 1 and 2GB sizes for $149 and $199 respectively. [Livescribe via Link]

Step #5 Manage Your Time More Effectively

You know all that sleep you are losing by getting up earlier? Catch up in class using some of these sneaky eyelid stickers. Your teacher would probably have to be legally blind to miss it in a small classroom, but in an auditorium you are golden. [Link]

Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen is available with 1GB or 2GB flash memory that comes with built-in infrared camera for text recording, OLED display that supports graphic animations with sound, integrated dual microphones with 50 meters capture distance, plus a speaker and a headphone jack. Even though it is still almost as thick as the io2, but if you compare this pen with other handheld devices, it is really thin and light weight in comparison, being useful at a time for those persons who are mostly on-the-road note takers.

When it comes to its recording capabilities, Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen boosts a noise-canceling system in both of its microphones improving the quality of the audio input. As a writing device, the Pulse has ink recognition technology comparable to that of a desktop scanning device.

Pricing is however similar to some cheap cell phones, $149 and $199 depending on memory size. Although portability is the main advantage of this gadget, you must bear in mind that Pulse Smartpen doesn’t require to be subscribed to any carrier in order to work, and it can be a great complement to carry along with your actual mobile device as it is easier to handle for a quick jotting down.

Pulse Smartpen has not Internet connectivity, Bluetooth or infrared data transfer, but you can upload your pen’s content onto your computer using a USB cable. Written notes can also be synchronized with audio approaching to a real-time transcription system similar to that offered by Dictaphones or software intended for doing this task.

Livescribe provides users with detailed instructions on how get the most from the Pulse Smartpen and its features, including the ability to create audiovisual content. Livescribe website also offers free 250MB storage space to keep organized in one place all what you capture with your digital pen.

Rolled out in late June 2008, Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen is available through major college and university bookstores supported by The Douglas Stewart Company, as well as online via Amazon and Target.com as a part of a marketing strategy to reach most consumers nationwide.

Byron Connell, Livescribe’s Chief Marketing Officer said that “Our partnerships with Target, Amazon, and Douglas Stewart will greatly expand the availability of Pulse smartpens and accessories to consumers across the country. At Target stores, consumers will be able to see the Pulse smartpen first hand and learn more about its capabilities through an interactive video demonstration.”
Amazon made available Pulse Smartpen on July 1st, and Target.com on July 13th, while the Douglas Stewart Company expect sales begin as soon as students get back to campus this fall.

Continue reading Switched On: More options for getting from scribble to screen

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment

Livescribe is building an ambitious house in a neighborhood that has seen a lot of foreclosures; Pulse will need to rewrite history to be successful in the traditionally challenged smartpen market. Indeed, between the time that the Pulse was announced and shipped, Logitech announced it was writing off the market for now. In addition to improving on note-taking, the company points to the reduced size of the Pulse as being less obtrusive than previous smartpens and thus more appealing to use. One of the keys to smartpen use is that it is less obtrusive than, say, a PC using Microsoft OneNote, which also has the ability to synchronize audio to written notes.

However, the Pulse's OLED display offsets at least some of the gains made toward discretion by shrinking the pen's girth. Worse, to get the full benefit of the Pulse's cool ability to resolve conversations in a room using 3D audio recording, you must wear earbuds that contain embedded microphones. It's hard to imagine something that could be more off-putting to a speaker than seeing an audience member wearing earbuds, and it would engender curiosity when that speaker notices that they are connected to a pen. Fortunately, the Pulse does a very good job of recording even without the earbud-based microphones.

Continue reading Switched On: Livescribe's hot recording artist seeks mass appeal (Part 2)

The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is the kind of invention that marries a brilliant idea with the best available technology of an era, provoking a gee-whizz response rarely experienced in this age of rapid advancement. While smartpens have been around for some time, previous models have been riddled with problems and failed to gain a following. Livescribe nails every feature on the dot.

Essentially, the Pulse is a miniature personal computer that captures your pen strokes with an onboard high speed infrared camera, all the while recording audio. The company dubs this a paper-based computing system. Fundamental to the functionality of this system is the requisite interactive dot enabled paper (a two-dimensional GPS for your pen). While you write or draw, the infrared camera is also tracking the pen's movements across a microdot covered page. Because every page contains a unique dot matrix, the software can assign specific file codes and sync the digitized pen strokes with the recorded audio.

Later, when reviewing the file on your PC, you can simply mouse-click on a word and the audio recorded at the time of that specific pen stroke will begin playing. For college students who have a tough time keeping up with long-winded professors, this could save the semester when old notes suddenly have the look of hieroglyphics. Livescribe is naturally focusing on marketing the smartpen to the collegiate crowd, but the device has broad appeal to journalists, lawyers, doctors or anyone who tends to take notes in a meeting. Down the line, the company plans to roll-out new applications to broaden the functionality of the device; translation software is a logical next step.

Introduced to rave reviews earlier this year at DEMO 2008 , the Pulse Smartpen will be available for purchase nationwide at Target stores beginning 13 July 2008 or online through Amazon and the Livescribe web store. The pen retails for $149 for a 1GB model (100 hours of stored audio) or $199 for a 2GB model, with a four-pack notebooks costing $20.

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment

If the pen truly is mightier than the sword, Livescribe’s Pulse smartpen ($149 with 1GB of flash memory, $199 with 2GB) may be able to take out a tank at 50 meters. Arguably the most technologically advanced writing instrument not intended for killing a Bond villain, the Pulse includes an infrared camera (for recording text), dual microphones, a speaker, a headphone jack, and an OLED display that can even play back short “movies” (animations synced with sound). And it manages to pack it all in a pen size that, while still a bit thick, is relatively comfortable and thinner than its closest technological ancestor, the now-discontinued Logitech io2.

Using its noise-canceling microphones and ink recognition system, the Pulse can be used to either take written notes that are uploaded to the PC, or record audio. But its greatest advance for note-taking over previous smartpen systems such as the io2 is the ability to synchronize written notes with audio. Simply put the pen into “Paper Replay” mode and tap on some text to hear what was being said as you scribbled. The result is the next best thing to real-time transcription. It can be used to check what may be an unclear or hastily scribbled note, focus on commentary while the pen captures the content, or create or copy a diagram while it is explained via audio.

But first, whatever is being written will have to be done so on paper designed explicitly for the pen. Like previous products that use Anoto technology, the Pulse needs smart “dot paper” to make transcription work. Without a doubt, this requirement will be a deal-killer for many, and limit the Pulse’s everyday utility for some time to come. In contrast, simpler products such as the IOGear Mobile Digital Scribe uses ultrasound to track a pen’s position and can be used on any paper (and the pens in such systems are smaller as well). To make dot paper more readily accessible, though, Livescribe will offer a template that should allow many customers to print their own dot paper at home. And dot paper enables the Pulse to pull off some pretty slick feats. Read on.

Continue reading Switched On: Livescribe’s hot recording artist seeks mass appeal (Part 1)

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Continue reading Switched On: Livescribe's hot recording artist seeks mass appeal (Part 1)