TMO at Macworld - Hitachi-Maxell Introduces Pen-it System for Mac Platform

by , 8:55 AM EST, January 11th, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Ever wanted to scribble a picture on a paper document, but also have an electronic copy? Sure, you could either create a paper document and scan it to create and electronic version, or use a tablet to create an electronic copy, and then print it out, but there has to be a better way.

Fortunately, the good folks at Anoto have developed a solution that bridges the physical and electronic realms. Their technology combines a special pattern printed on regular paper with a pen has both a traditional ink stylus and a small camera that determines location by scanning the special pattern. Anoto has several partners that both license the technology and manufacture the pen. Hitachi-Maxell is the first to announce and demonstrate a version of their Pen-it system for the Mac.

To use the system, just start writing with the Maxell digital pen in the Pen-it notebook. When you are done writing, place the tip of the pen in a special checkbox in the notebook, and the pen will start sending your pen strokes to the Pen-it NOTES application via Bluetooth. You can then use the NOTES application to store electronic versions of the pages you've written on, as well as export the pages to popular formats such as PDF.

The basic NOTES package for the Mac includes the Maxell digital pen, Pen-It NOTES software for Mac OS X, a Pen-It notebook and a USB charger. The system is priced at US$299 and will be available starting February 2007.

Ricky Spero contributed to this article.

Hitachi-Maxell