Just happened to be in Cellular One’s Reid Street store today and saw they had an iPhone in the window. I got all excited until I saw the price tag: $999 !!!! – and that’s WITH a one-year contract. When I bought one in Toronto for my daughter it was $299 with a two-year commitment. I’m guessing that the high price is because Cellular One doesn’t have an official deal with Apple and it is having to buy them unlocked (A quick look online confirms that unlocked iPhones are going for anywhere from US$550 to US$750). It remains to be seen, of course, how they’ll perform on CellOne’s 3G network due early next year. In the meantime, at that price it’s going to have to be a toss up betwen a phone and a new MacBook.
Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Not sure if I’m the first person in Bermuda to take delivery of the amazing new Pulse Smartpen from Livescribe but I’m sure there aren’t many.
Ever since this pen was first talked about late last year, I’ve been dying to get my hands on one and once they released a Mac verson of the desktop software last month, I plonked my $149 down. Well it finally arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I have to say it’s an impressive piece of kit. Basically the Smartpen works a bit like the Leap Frog kids books you may have seen (not surprising as the guy behind those invented the Pulse too) – it writes like a pen but, unlike other digital pens, records synchronised audio too so that, to quote the company ads, “you never miss a word”. You write on special “Dot Paper” notepaper and books that are printed with Leap Frog-style commands and navigation and you can upload your notes and drawings to your computer via a USB cradle. Tap on any part of your notes and the Smartpen will play back the audio from that point. It’s an amazing tool for anyone who takes notes in meetings, lectures or – like me – you’re a working journalist.
I haven’t tried it out “in the field” yet but having just scribbled down a page or so of trial notes from a TV newscast, I’m very impressed. It’s easy to use and will become indispensable once apps to convert notes and audio to text are available. The former is already available for Windows users (Mac users can use MyScript Notes via Boot Camp or Parallels) and audio-to-text is in the works.
Livescribe now Mac ready
Posted: November 29, 2008 in Mac, TechnologyTags: pulselivescribe smartpen mac
I’ve been tracking the progress of the Pulse Livescribe Smartpen – a rather cool pen device that allows you to transfer handwritten notes and recordings direct to your PC and converts your handwriting into text. Up until this week it was only available for Windows but now a Mac beta is available. Time to splash out methinks …
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