Logitech has developed a new version of its digital pen,
which can digitise handwritten text.
The latest model features increased storage capacity and
improved handwriting recognition capabilities, according to the
company.
The Logitech IO2 Digital Writing System includes the digital pen
and software that can convert the digitised handwriting into fiel
types including Microsoft documents, plain text files or JPeg
images, according to Vanessa Mills, senior marketing manager at
Logitech.
A camera behind the pen's ballpoint tip reads the text on
special digital "paper" and records the pen strokes into its flash
memory. Digital paper is normal paper that contains thousands of
individual dots used to plot the movement of pen strokes. The pen
can write on normal paper, but will not record that data.
Digital pens make handwritten notes searchable after they have
been converted into text. Hospitals have found the digital pens
handy as personnel can instantly digitise medical records, Mills
said.
In addition to targeting the vertical markets, Logitech is also
working with Salesforce.com so sales teams can instantly digitise
documents into Salesforce's CRM software.
The IO2 Digital Pen is about 30% smaller than the Logitech IO,
which was launched late last year and its flash memory has been
increased to 40Mbytes.
The pen can also store "identities" - handwriting profiles for
different individuals - said Karen Hoskins, a company
spokeswoman.
Agam Shah writes for IDG News Service