VADRIGAR
07-09-2003, 11:30 AM
New iPen a great way to go mouseless
By Heather Newman
Detroit Free Press
FingerSystem's new iPen Mouse is a light, comfortable way to switch from moving a mouse to writing and tapping with a pen to control your computer and enter text.
The pen is about the length of an average Bic and has a bulge like a flattened cigar. It connects to your PC via a USB plug and a wire the thickness of a headphone cord. It's comfortable to hold, even for small hands, and the cord is so thin that it doesn't drag as you write and click.
The tip of the pen is a white plastic stylus, which depresses to single- and double-click on screen. A small button on top, which you can easily hit with your index finger, acts as the right mouse button.
The iPen comes with a mousepad the size of an index card and only slightly thicker, but it can be used on almost any solid surface.
I wanted the writing pad to be larger, since I found myself constantly moving the pen back up to the top while writing and mousing, but my glass desk isn't optical-mouse friendly. A solid-surface mousepad could have solved the problem.
The pen is a cooperative venture with Pen & Internet, which makes some of the software it comes with (including riteMail for sending messages and ritePen for the pen's handwriting recognition).
Pen & Internet isn't exactly a household name, but it should be. When I declared Microsoft Windows Tablet Edition to have the best handwriting recognition I'd seen on the market so far, that was Pen & Internet's software at work.
When I gave a big thumbs-up to the Seiko InkLink product, which clips onto any notebook to transfer what you write into a handheld computer, that was P&I programs at work again.
So I was delighted to see the same high standards in the iPen. It operates at 800 dots per inch, which is enough to create crisp drawings or smooth, connected text while writing.
A handy included program called Finger White lets you leave notes to yourself on your desktop, as a document or even on a Web page (they pop up every time you return to the site). It also works well with most graphics and drawing programs to naturally create brush and pen strokes without the use of a traditional mouse.
The handwriting recognition is at P&I's usual high level, which is to say that if your handwriting is clear (or you print what you're writing), you'll have reasonable success with getting it to transfer into editable text.
If your handwriting is bad enough that even your printing is disconnected or sloppy, or you prefer to write in less-than-perfect cursive, you're going to be frustrated by the handwriting recognition, which will make a mockery of your words.
Even so, the pen is useful for capturing notes that you don't need to edit later. It works fine with laptops, and its small size and space requirements mean that it would be a dandy way to make notes to yourself in class or on a plane.
For more information on the companies and the product, check out www.penandinternet.com or www.fingersystemusa.com. The iPen retails for $99.95.
By Heather Newman
Detroit Free Press
FingerSystem's new iPen Mouse is a light, comfortable way to switch from moving a mouse to writing and tapping with a pen to control your computer and enter text.
The pen is about the length of an average Bic and has a bulge like a flattened cigar. It connects to your PC via a USB plug and a wire the thickness of a headphone cord. It's comfortable to hold, even for small hands, and the cord is so thin that it doesn't drag as you write and click.
The tip of the pen is a white plastic stylus, which depresses to single- and double-click on screen. A small button on top, which you can easily hit with your index finger, acts as the right mouse button.
The iPen comes with a mousepad the size of an index card and only slightly thicker, but it can be used on almost any solid surface.
I wanted the writing pad to be larger, since I found myself constantly moving the pen back up to the top while writing and mousing, but my glass desk isn't optical-mouse friendly. A solid-surface mousepad could have solved the problem.
The pen is a cooperative venture with Pen & Internet, which makes some of the software it comes with (including riteMail for sending messages and ritePen for the pen's handwriting recognition).
Pen & Internet isn't exactly a household name, but it should be. When I declared Microsoft Windows Tablet Edition to have the best handwriting recognition I'd seen on the market so far, that was Pen & Internet's software at work.
When I gave a big thumbs-up to the Seiko InkLink product, which clips onto any notebook to transfer what you write into a handheld computer, that was P&I programs at work again.
So I was delighted to see the same high standards in the iPen. It operates at 800 dots per inch, which is enough to create crisp drawings or smooth, connected text while writing.
A handy included program called Finger White lets you leave notes to yourself on your desktop, as a document or even on a Web page (they pop up every time you return to the site). It also works well with most graphics and drawing programs to naturally create brush and pen strokes without the use of a traditional mouse.
The handwriting recognition is at P&I's usual high level, which is to say that if your handwriting is clear (or you print what you're writing), you'll have reasonable success with getting it to transfer into editable text.
If your handwriting is bad enough that even your printing is disconnected or sloppy, or you prefer to write in less-than-perfect cursive, you're going to be frustrated by the handwriting recognition, which will make a mockery of your words.
Even so, the pen is useful for capturing notes that you don't need to edit later. It works fine with laptops, and its small size and space requirements mean that it would be a dandy way to make notes to yourself in class or on a plane.
For more information on the companies and the product, check out www.penandinternet.com or www.fingersystemusa.com. The iPen retails for $99.95.