Not sure how this one slipped under my radar but last month Livescribe was recognised in the list of winners in Wall Street Journals Technology Innovation Awards for 2009

Livescribe was recognised in the consumer electronics section with a runner-up award.

It’s great to see Livescribe being recognised around the world. Given what we expect to see in 2010 from Livescribe I wouldn’t be surprised to see further recognition.

Keep up the good work team

We’ve had a few requests from the community about whether Livescribe Desktop will work with Windows 7.

If you have upgraded to Windows 7 (we will be shortly) and you have a Livescribe Pulse Smartpen – then you’re in luck.

Livescribe Desktop v1.7 is compatible with Windows 7. To get Livescribe Desktop v1.7, simply go to the Livescribe website and follows the links through the Support section of the site.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line

If you’re an existing Livescribe Pulse Smartpen user, you would have received an email from Livescribe today about the new products coming through the system.

Great news from the team and a reflection of how they listen and react to market feedback!

Not surprisingly we’ve already fielded dozens of calls, emails, and Tweets about when the 4GB will be available here – stay tuned as I don’t have details yet.

Here are the key points about the news this week:

1. Livescribe 4GB – up to 400 hours of audio capture – but more importantly additional capacity to load applications onto the pen. I think this is a good move by Livescribe. Having spoken to thousands of customers around the APAC region the message I’m hearing is that users want additional functionality and integration
2. The new Pro Pack – I liked the old Livescribe Pro Pack – I like the new Livescribe 4GB Pro Pack even more – our problem is we just can’t get it down here – YET.
   Over the past 18 months we’ve had the opportunity to build a very detailed profile of what people NEED based on how they plan to use the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen. Shortly, we’ll be announcing a series of product bundles aimed at specific user groups – business users, teachers, students, and researchers.
3. The new Charging Cradle – Now this is a very cool – very Apple style – addition to the Livescribe accessory range. I had the opportunity to see the prototype a while ago and was amazed at how good this cradle looks. It’s only available as part of the pro-pack and in the US at the moment but we’re making enquiries as to whether we can get them into Australia and New Zealand.
4. New Colours – another nice addition to the product range.

As we learn more about these new products we’ll share it here first.

Great news through today from the Livescribe team with the announcement of a new model – the Livescribe 4GB Pulse Smartpen.

This latest model will record up to 400 hours of audio.

We don’t have any details as to availability here in Australia or pricing. Once we do we’ll let everyone know.

In addition to this, Smartpen will be introducing a number of new product bundles aimed at business and academic/student users. These new bundles will include the current Livescribe Pulse Smartpen plus the most popular accessories based on the sales data that we’ve collected over the past 15 months of sales.

I’m pleased to advise that we’ve added MyScript for Livescribe into our Smartpen store.

MyScript for Livescribe

The product has been very popular with Livescribe users, so we’ve done two things:

1. We’ve created a new product bundle – Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen plus MyScript for Livescribe
2. MyScript for Livescribe – a stand alone, fully licensed version of the product.

If you’re wondering how the product works, this blog post was created by my Livescribe pen. The image below is from MyScript and shows my hand written draft post on the left and then the transcription on the right.

MyScript for Livescribe - turning my hand writing into text

I wrote out what I wanted in the blog post in my spiral notebook, and then used MyScript to turn my hand writing into text. This text was then copied into this blog post.

Our customers share some great stories with us about how they use their Livescribe Pulse Smartpens. This is another great example of how the pen can be used.

Suzi Wong is an Adelaide based user who writes about her cooking and eating adventures. Suzi is also a full time student doing an honours research project on classroom management practices of beginning teachers.

Recently Suzi wrote about how her mothers’ decision to pass on her cookbooks to her got her thinking about how she could do the same for her daughters.

The solution for Suzi is her Livescribe Smartpen.

The cover page for Suzi's recipe book in the Livescribe notebook

The Livescribe Smartpen and notebook allows Suzi to create books of family recipes that she can then store and print as she wishes.

The personal touch of hand-written recipes is timeless. Here’s another example of what Suzi is creating.

An example of a recipe that Suzi has created

This is a great example of how to use the Livescribe Smartpen.

Thanks for sharing this Suzi and best of luck with the recipes

We’ve written before about the new Pencast feature available in the Livescribe Desktop. It’s a very cool feature as it allows you to create YouTube-like snippets of content and then share this out with your audience.

So if you’ve been wondering about Pencasts – could you use them in a learning environment? Watch this Livescribe Pencast as it’s a great example of how to use this feature.

Sigh…all we need now is integration to Microsoft OneNote and Apple Evernote…

News through this morning that Livescribe has released upgrades to both versions of Livescribe Desktop.

You can download the relevant update by docking your Pulse Smartpen – then accept the prompt to download the update.

Livescribe Desktop for Windows version 1.7

Livescribe made improvements to Livescribe Desktop for Windows to correct known issues, and improve usability. Livescribe recommend this upgrade for all users.

We’ve downloaded the new Livescribe Desktop for Windows – version 1.7 – note the attachment is 2.2MB

Livescribe Desktop for Mac OS X version 1.2

Livescribe has made improvements to Livescribe Desktop for Mac OS X to add new features, correct known issues, and improve usability. Livescribe recommend this upgrade for all users.

The new features include

• Support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
• Support for drag and drop installation.
• Support for handwriting to text conversion using MyScript for Livescribe from Vision Objects

We’ve downloaded the new Livescribe Desktop for Mac OS X version 1.2 – note the attachment is 3MB

There are some known issues with the new Mac version. Please contact me if you need further information

Great news through this morning that Australian magazine PC Authority has recommended the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen.

PC Authority is one of the highest circulating technology magazines in Australia. Known for their rigorous testing of new technology, receiving a Recommendation is high praise for the Pulse Smartpen.

Ever had the thought that maybe you could pull the pen apart to have a quick look inside? (please don’t).

If you are interested then you may want to slip down to your local newsagent and pick up a copy of the October edition of APC Magazine.

Inside the magazine in their ‘Exploding Tech’ section they have the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen – and all the smart bits exploded out for you.

I don’t have a picture to share with you but I can say it’s pretty impressive.