The Kindle Electronic Pen

daffy4u · 03-11-2010, 07:19 PM

I was reading an entry from my favorite Kindle Blog, the iReader Review when I came across this little tidbit:

Quote:

Clues that Amazon might be focused solely on being the eReader device -

Kindle Books are only available on the Kindle and on Kindle apps.
The Kindle does not accept ePub and is a walled garden.
Mr. Bezos has said that Amazon are committed to the Kindle and there will be a Kindle 10.
They are keeping Kindle sales figures secret.
They are building out a service and an infrastructure around the device. The building out of Whispernet and WhisperSync and the patent for the Kindle Electronic Pen all indicate they are dead serious about the Kindle.
They are acquiring companies (Touchco) that play into making the Kindle a better device.
They spent the better part of 4 years designing the Kindle and coming up with it.
Lab126 (the subsidiary that created the Kindle) has been growing a lot and is still hiring like crazy.
Amazon are putting in all the effort of creating a Kindle App Store.

I'd never read anything about this pen before. Since I've been mostly away from MR for the past month, I decided to do a little Google search to see if I missed an announcement. The first thing that popped up in the search led me to another post from the same blog from June of last year.

It seems like a souped up Kindle compatible version of the Livescribe Pen.

Quote:

An electronic input device such as an electronic pen is provided to annotate a paper document. The input device records an annotation and an image of human-comprehensible content in the document …

Quote:

You can turn on or off the ink => the electronic pen can be used on Kindle screens or on regular paper.
The pen can capture ‘an audible annotation’. Obviously an audible file for the Kindle will get added to the kindle version.
The pen has a processor in-built.
The computer processor (presumably on the Kindle) has the capability to print the digital annotation (not clear whether its document with annotation or annotation itself).
There’s a camera in the tip.

Reads like a very bulky device but I'm very curious to see if this makes it to market and how it will be used.

Sydney's Mom · 03-11-2010, 08:51 PM

I bet that is for the student version. A DX with an electronic pen would be great. The inability to take notes is one of the reasons the kindle hasn't done well for business people and students.

Ervserver · 03-11-2010, 11:57 PM

something for the student to lose, Kindle pen

kindlekitten · 03-12-2010, 01:23 AM

exactly

mdovell · 03-12-2010, 09:34 AM

Pens are not a new invention...vectrex had it way back in '82...however things didn't really get off the ground until newton and then from palm.

In all honestly I can type faster than I can write...but maybe this might allow for more of a drawing app or maybe something else. For example what if a kindle could get into storing medical records and need a signature.

Think about it this way. When mp3 players came out it was thought of JUST music...until podcasts came out...until books on mp3 came out...etc. Think of everything that is audio and mp3 can accommodate that

kindle as an ebook might just be part of it....As long as something is black and white what if you could email attachments with a kindle. Think of everything that uses paper. Imagine if you end up being able to do your taxes on the kindle and just able to plug it into a printer and your set. Obviously it doesn't have more of a full functional keyboard but anything with paper maybe it could supplement.

kindlekitten · 03-12-2010, 11:21 AM

that would be great, I just hope that there would be a slot of some kind to store the pen

=X= · 03-12-2010, 12:04 PM

Very interesting. It seems like an elegant way to sync books with notes. And converting written text to eNotes.

It will be interesting to see it working.

=X=

catsittingstill · 03-13-2010, 11:01 PM

I would love to be able to highlight and annotate with a pen--especially for a big screen like the DX, which looks too large to do the sort of 2-thumbs-typing I resort to on my K2.

Don't care about a camera---and putting it in the tip sounds silly--wouldn't the lens get scratched? Putting it in the back end might work for me, since I'm not the type to chew on pens or pencils. But I don't really see the point.

I agree it would need a slot for storage, like the Palm TX has. Otherwise I would always be losing the darn thing.

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03-11-2010, 08:51 PM	#2
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,896 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	I bet that is for the student version. A DX with an electronic pen would be great. The inability to take notes is one of the reasons the kindle hasn't done well for business people and students.

03-11-2010, 11:57 PM	#3
Ervserver Wizard Posts: 2,624 Karma: 1008294 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch	something for the student to lose, Kindle pen

03-12-2010, 01:23 AM	#4
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	exactly

03-12-2010, 09:34 AM	#5
mdovell Zealot Posts: 147 Karma: 3168 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: Kindle DX	Pens are not a new invention...vectrex had it way back in '82...however things didn't really get off the ground until newton and then from palm. In all honestly I can type faster than I can write...but maybe this might allow for more of a drawing app or maybe something else. For example what if a kindle could get into storing medical records and need a signature. Think about it this way. When mp3 players came out it was thought of JUST music...until podcasts came out...until books on mp3 came out...etc. Think of everything that is audio and mp3 can accommodate that kindle as an ebook might just be part of it....As long as something is black and white what if you could email attachments with a kindle. Think of everything that uses paper. Imagine if you end up being able to do your taxes on the kindle and just able to plug it into a printer and your set. Obviously it doesn't have more of a full functional keyboard but anything with paper maybe it could supplement.

03-12-2010, 11:21 AM	#6
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	that would be great, I just hope that there would be a slot of some kind to store the pen

03-12-2010, 12:04 PM	#7
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	Very interesting. It seems like an elegant way to sync books with notes. And converting written text to eNotes. It will be interesting to see it working. =X=

03-13-2010, 11:01 PM	#8
catsittingstill Guru Posts: 643 Karma: 551634 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard	I would love to be able to highlight and annotate with a pen--especially for a big screen like the DX, which looks too large to do the sort of 2-thumbs-typing I resort to on my K2. Don't care about a camera---and putting it in the tip sounds silly--wouldn't the lens get scratched? Putting it in the back end might work for me, since I'm not the type to chew on pens or pencils. But I don't really see the point. I agree it would need a slot for storage, like the Palm TX has. Otherwise I would always be losing the darn thing.

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