Device: Livescribe Pulse Smartpen

Long lecture, complex names, numerical data? You could listen carefully. Or write things down verbatim. Here’s a device that does both. Just write down key words with a special pen that also records audio. When you want to hear a particular part of the audio, open the notebook, tap your pen on the keyword; the pen will play back exactly that part of the lecture. Sounds cool?

The Pulse has an embedded infrared camera which captures where the word is written, and an inbuilt microphone (or an external mic via a jack) records audio simultaneously. Later, when you tap on your notes, software in the pen recognises the exact coordinates on the page, and plays the correct part of the corresponding sound file. On the 4GB version we tested (there’s also a 2GB model), we found the recording quality very good, and playback was bang-on every time.

The titanium body pen is light enough to hold easily for a few hours. It comes with a custom USB charger. In case your pen’s memory is full, you can store the written pages, including diagrams, as a PDF file. The sound file will automatically be tagged to it, for replay later. You can also directly podcast the sound files on social networking sites, using a software program that can be downloaded from livescribe.com.

One hiccup: The pen works only with custom stationery (from Livescribe, naturally) and refills (ditto). The pen stores text from four notebooks at a given time, after which you will have to transfer the data on the pen to the computer. But, if you think of the extra costs for the consumables as fuel for your pen, it can take you places. 

livescribe.com/en-us/smartpen/pulse/ Price: $129 - $229