The Livescribe 3 smartpen Black Edition introduces an updated design that features a matte black finish complemented by a glass-reinforced glossy black clip that is a significant departure from the original Livescribe 3 smartpen. The use of new materials also translates to subtle differences in the writing experience.

"With the Black Edition, as well as the Moleskine Edition launched last year, we are expanding our smartpen line with more stylish and attractive designs," said Stein Revelsby, CEO of Anoto. "The changes we have made to the Black Edition smartpen will likely appeal to a different set of customers than our original design did. By talking to customers, we have continued to learn more about how personal a pen and writing experience is. We made some changes to the feel and balance of the smartpen that address thoughts from a segment of customers."

Alongside the launch of the Livescribe 3 smartpen Black Edition, the Livescribe+ mobile app is also being updated with support for vector graphics. With these updates, PDF's that are exported from the app will include all pen strokes as vector graphics. This translates into better rendering quality, smaller file size and the ability use the pen strokes within any application that supports vector graphics, including Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. The changes will be introduced in both the Android and iOS versions of Livescribe+ in the coming weeks.

(Via PRNEnewswire)

Fans of the 1960's series Thunderbirds may recall the 1966 episode Alias Mr. Hackenbacker, which describes a remarkable bugged pen, the Impressa Pen, which copies whatever the user writes.

In Paris, Penelope has met with François, and says she will model for him at his fashion show. François is glad that she is and is about to reveal his big surprise he intends to tell everyone about at the fashion show, when Penelope stops him. She thinks the room is bugged, and pulls out a hairbrush which is also a scanner.

She uses the scanner to find the bug, which had been hidden in a flower pot. She then takes a look outside with François' telescope, and sees that a long range camera has been planted several buildings away. She shuts the door, but François says he will write down his secret and then pass her the piece of paper.

However, before he finishes his writing, Penelope asks to look at the pen. She opens it up and finds that it is bugged also -the pen has a special feature which lets it copy whatever the writer puts down on paper and send it to someone else.

(Via Thunderbirds Wiki)