Business use of the Livescribe product range here in Australia has been very strong – a reflection of just how switched on we are as business people in that we quickly realised the efficiency benefits the mobile computing platform could deliver.

A couple of things Jennifer didn’t touch on.

1. MyScript

This is a critical time saver

One thing we’ve learnt from working with business owners and executives over the past couple of years is how important the optional MyScript for Livescribe is. In simple terms, MyScript allows a Livescribe user to take one or more pages of hand written notes and then convert this hand writing into editable text – a very useful time saving option.

Pencasts – Collaboration on a Different Level

The other key feature we’ve been discussing with business users lately is the new Pencast feature. This allows a business executive who might be remote from his or her office to take meeting notes and then send these notes – hand writing and audio back to the office so that other key people can access, listen, and use the information. This creates really interesting opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration etc.

Yep. The Livescribe Echo Smartpen is a cool piece of technology – but the coolness extends well beyond the features that a journo might find amusing…

I’ve been travelling around the country recently and I’m always amused to see the other passengers suddenly take notice of the Livescribe ad during the inflight entertainment program.

Last week one passenger across the aisle from me was madly trying to write down the details that I couldn’t help but hand him my business card – inflight ad to inflight Livescribe demo to inflight Livescribe sale…

As an aside, did you know we’ve introduced an Australian version of the Livescribe Pro Pack?

We now offer a 2GB Pro Pack and a 4GB Pro Pack. These packs include:

• 2GB or 4GB Livescribe Pulse Smartpen in Titanium (not black as shown on the US site)
• MyScript for Livescribe – fully licensed version for Mac or PC
• Pro charging Cradle
• Premium Black Case.

Details of both Australian Livescribe Pro Pack bundles are available here

If you have any questions about the Pro Pack please don’t hesitate to contact me directly either via comments here on the blog or via the website

The special offer is for a Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smartpen plus a free Premium Leather Case in Blue.

If you’re interested in this offer – check out our store for details.

What you get:

A shiny new 2GB Pulse Smartpen in Titanium

The Titanium Pulse Smartpen from Livescribe

A Premium Leather Case in Blue

This is a limited time offer from Livescribe and Smartpen. If you’d like any further details, don’t hesitate to contact us

Gary’s also one of the leading advocates of creative thinking in Australia. As part of the workshop Gary gave everyone a unlined journal – he refers to them as a creative thinking journal.

This got me thinking about how I use my Livescribe Pulse Smartpen and it dawned on me that the Pulse Smartpen and our own unlined journals are a perfect example of how technology can support creative thinking in a natural, unobtrusive way.

The Livescribe Smartpen captures what a person writes and allows them to add audio if need be. So whether a user is drawing mind maps, brain storming, or simply making written and verbal notes, the Pulse Smartpen and pads capture this content. Importantly MyScript then allows a user to transcribe and share this content.

To support creative thinking, we’ve created a new bundled solution called the Livescribe Creative Thinking bundle. The pack will include a 4GB Livescribe Pulse Smartpen, a set of Creative Thinking Journals, and MyScript for Livescribe. Until the end of March, we’re also offering free shipping on this bundle.

If you’ve already got your Smartpen, you can purchase a set of Livescribe Creative Thinking Journals for $49.95.

Finally, if you want more information on how to embrace creative thinking, or to fire up your mojo – then visit Gary’s website or sign up for his Expresso newsletter.

I’m pleased to announce that the Livescribe 4GB Pulse Smartpen is now available in Australia.
The 4GB Smartpen is in the new Titanium colour.

The introduction of the 4GB Pulse Smartpen also marks the introduction of new packaging for the pen and a slight change in what’s included with the basic package. The key difference is a change to the standard notebook – it’s now an A5 black spiral bound notebook.

Note that we’ve also created a bundled solution to include MyScript for Livescribe. MyScript for Livescribe has been incredibly popular here in Australia and New Zealand and I highly recommend it.

Still no word on the 4GB Pro Pack – but when we do find out I’ll let everyone know.

Finally, initial orders of the Livescribe 4GB Pulse Smartpen Titanium are likely to be slower than usual dispatch – I’ll advise individual customers directly.

Seeing as I’ve given away my original Pulse Smartpen I’m going to upgrade to the 4GB – I’ll blog here in a few weeks with my initial thoughts.

Here’s an image of the 4GB in the new colour

2010 is shaping up as a big year for us

Firstly, the RRP for the 2GB pen has been reduced to $299 (including GST). This is in time for us to help out the flood of new students entering university as well as many of our Government and corporate users who are completing trials of the Pulse Smartpen within their operations.

You may also have noticed that we’ve added the A4 and A5 pads into the store – it’s nice having metric paper products at last…

The really important development though is that we’ve been working on some innovative ideas for where we see the Pulse Smartpen going – particularly now that the software development kit is out there. I’m going to share some ideas with you in January about how we see the technology being used in education and business.

We’re in the final stages of a pretty significant development to help us help you better. The first part of this will be the launch of an Australian support wiki. This wiki will contain FAQ’s, community feedback, as well as tools to help us solve some of the occasional problems that emerge with the pen and desktop. One of the core reasons we’re doing this is that we’re a pretty industrious bunch down here so I’m very keen to tap that inquisitive nature so that we all can benefit.

This won’t replace the support resources on the Livescribe site but will augment them and be focused on the issues that we track from you the customer.

Livescribe in Education

Another key goal of the wiki will be to create an interactive environment where we can collaborate to develop policies around how Livescribe can be used by students.

One of my core goals is to develop a framework of information and policies that schools, TAFE’s, and Universities can then refer to or use so that everyone understands what the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen does and how it can be used to help the learning experience.