Pentel's AirPen Pocket++ for iPad, iPhone & ADHD

Last month my demo unit of the Pentel AirPen Pocket++ arrived. I had seen the blog world all abuzz about the AirPen at the end of May, but as usual, everybody was just regurgitating the same review. Nobody had actually used a unit. Reviews seemed to go along like this:

Oooh! It's Mac-ish! Wow! Check out the white and black colors! Neato! Hey, it works with iPhones, too! Write stuff and it's, like, put in your iPad automagically and stuff. Heck if we know anything else to tell you, but YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

So I decided to contact Pentel Japan and see if I could try one out. It arrived a few weeks ago and I've been testing it since.

If you missed the buzz, the AirPen Pocket is a Bluetooth device that transcribes what you write on paper into your smartphone or tablet. More specifically, the device digitizes your pen movements into a bitmap that can be retrieved later through Pentel's software.

The Android version has been out for some time, but the buzz in May was about the extra "++" in the name. The slick white & black version was designed for iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches. Since none of the reviews were useful, however, I thought maybe you'd like to know if this product had any value for disorganized minds looking for a technological boost. I've tested the AirPen with both the iPhone and iPad, and paired it with my Mac as well, but my review will focus on the iPad.

First, the boring stuff:

The AirPen is a plastic stylus, no heavier than an ordinary pen. On one end you can screw off a cap to expose the battery compartment. On the other end, you simply pull the cap off to reveal the stylus. The AirPen comes with ink and stylus nibs that can be interchanged easily by sliding the nib lock back. It can be found midway on the side of the AirPen. Don't confuse it with the mouse button that sits closer to the nib.

The AirPen comes with a memory unit that does all the magic. Hold the power button down for two seconds to power the unit up. It's in offline mode by default. More on that in a moment. Press and hold the Bluetooth button for a moment until the display reads "IAP". "SPP" mode is engaged with only one quick press, so be sure to hold that button down. "SPP" mode lets you pair the AirPen with your Mac.

Open the AirPen app and it will prompt you to pair your AirPen with your iPad if you haven't done it already. Clicking OK loads a japanese/english help page. Open up Settings>General>Bluetooth and look for "Mobile Pen". Tap to pair and you're all set.

 Head back to the AirPen note app. Now anything you scribble in front of the memory unit's sensor will be recorded onto your iPad. You can watch it live.

In my example, I took some notes—even doodled—and it took no longer than it would have if writing with pen alone. That's the power of the AirPen pocket++ for me. With the ballpoint nib, the AirPen just records everything I write while I take notes. Then I can toss the paper away and have a copy of it in the AirPen app. With two taps I can send my note to Twitter or Evernote, or save it to my photo album.

Even though the AirPen app lets me change pen color and width live, the question I asked myself in the end was "What good is this? Can't I just scribble a note on paper, then photograph it with the iPhone camera in Evernote's app and save myself money and a few extra steps?" And it was true. Digitizing notes live didn't give me any added benefit. I think too digitally. This was a device for the analog, old school minded. Yet, there was another mode to the memory unit that changed the game for me.

With Bluetooth off, the memory unit keeps a digital record of what you write. Need a new page? Just quickly press the power button once and a new page is queued up for you. Write your notes, remembering to create new pages on the memory unit, and you don't have to fiddle with pairing or drain your iPad's battery life. When you are done, open the AirPen app and it will automagically prompt you to transfer the queued up pages you created. The images are even saved in iCloud, allowing you access to them across devices. Very powerful, indeed.

Upsides:

• Seamlessly shares with Evernote and Twitter
• Just like using a pen, but records notes into your iPad.
• When writing with large letters to aid digitization, the AirPen in tandem with Evernote allows you to handwrite notes that can be searched for keywords later. Very powerful combo. This is the greatest boon for ADHD folk. Hopefully, you write legibly.
• Can work without the iPad present for easy note taking and even easier importing later.
• If you write using the stylus nib, you can reuse the same piece of paper over and over again. I can do this, but it's obviously easier if the pen leaves a mark. If you use the stylus and write on a child's Magic Slate, you can have the best of both worlds, though you might look silly at the next board meeting.

Downsides:

• The low resolution notes sometimes don't work well with Evernote. Be sure to write big.
• Has not been given CE or FCC approval yet.
• Currently only available in Japan. Import shops do have them for sale, but the markup is painful.
• AirPen itself requires button batteries and is not rechargeable via USB as the memory unit is.
• Does not communicate with the iPad or iPhone when they auto-lock. You'll need to turn off auto-lock if you plan on using the AirPen live.

So, is the AirPen worth importing from Japan? I have to admit, when I first requested the device, I did not realize it was for sale only in Japan. I hope that Pentel decides to support the AirPen here in the States soon. I like mine and can see a lot of uses for it moving forward, but if I had to buy one today I wouldn't pay $300 for it.

I'd like to see the digitizer create higher resolution images. They'd work better with Evernote's OCR process and let me write at the smaller size I prefer. I also wish the pen unit would charge via USB. Having to keep a supply of button batteries on hand means that pen will sit forgotten in my drawer, languishing unused because I can't ever remember to buy batteries. But when I go to another writers conference, I will definitely be bringing my AirPen along when taking notes. I love the powerful combo AirPen makes with Evernote's OCR technology. I'd definitely recommend keeping an eye out for the American release of the AirPen Pocket++.



Love your support. Thanks for your comments. Let me know what you think of this review in the comments section. I hope you found it useful.

ADHD: Limiting Distractions on Your Computer

As I prepare for a new job today, I've been razor focused on not getting distracted. I've been pretty good about it, too. There was that moment where I headed off to d-addicts.com and started hunting around for the 10th episode of Urakara, a Japanese program featuring Korean girl band, KARA. That wasn't too obscure of a distraction, was it? I mean, I'd hate to fit a stereotype. At any rate, I stopped myself before too much time was lost.

And now here I am, back on track! Blogging! Soon to be writing! Actually dressing! Maybe being on time to work! My potential for productivity is boundless!

There are days, though, where I am less than organized. Yesterday was a good example of that. It was my last day as a free man and one would have thought I'd make the best of it, but I couldn't tune out the kids' TV and the pandemonium and the unending interruptions and the nifty news links everyone kept sharing on Twitter. I eventually pulled things together and accomplished quite a bit of freelance work, but never managed to write.

Then I saw something this morning that reminded me I had already solved this problem before.

MacWorld has an article where they show folks how to turn their old iPad into a dedicated eReader. It involves modifying alerts to be less distracting or to turn them off altogether. It also details removing unnecessary apps like Angry Birds. (What? That's unnecessary‽) In the end, the entire iPad environment is fine tuned to be conducive to only reading. It may seem like a silly thing to do to a $500 portable computer, but if you have one lying about, why the heck not? For me, though, I need a conducive environment for writing, not reading. That's why I was surprised I had forgotten an old trick I had come up with.

Instead of having a dedicated computer for writing, put your computer's ability to have multiple users to your advantage. I created a user just for writing. The desktop was empty of all icons, the dock had only writing apps in it, and I chose a desktop wallpaper that was a bit more interesting than a solid color, but not too interesting.

On the Mac, open up the Finder prefs and uncheck all the desktop items. Then make sure you don't stick any files on the desktop. They create clutter. Lastly, create a folder in /Users/Shared for all your writing files. That way you have access to them from your main account and your writing account. Most importantly, do not install social media apps in this account. Keep things very bare bones.

I used to use this account all the time when working on my book last year. I sort of forgot about it in the divorce. (Especially since one day on a whim I made the account invisible. Don't ask. It seemed like a great idea at the time.) In fact, it had been so long since I used the account I had momentarily forgotten the password. And the links to the apps in the dock were broken. But I had things back up and running in moments.

Why not just use fullscreen mode in your favorite writing app? That is indeed a good solution, and one that I often use. However, there are days when I need to get away from all the boops, beeps, and bouncing boxes I set up to remind me about what I'm supposed to be doing. Since those alerts are linked to my iPhone, I don't miss them and they don't pop up in my face while I'm writing. Besides, having an environment tailored just for writing helps keep my inner nerd in check. Oh, you thought I was kidding about that J-drama. I'm just lucky I caught myself before I headed off into the sunset looking for subtitle files.

Next time I find the commotion around me too much to filter out, or if I find the world inside my computer screen just too distracting, I'll open up my writing account again and get busy.




Thanks for all your support! I enjoy writing for you and love your feedback.

Celebrating My Forgetfulness on the Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July, Fellow Americans!


(For my non-American readers, I hope you have a happy fourth as well. You may not be celebrating it for the same reasons we may be, but why shouldn't your day be happy?)

As I sat there pondering what I would quickly write about today, then got distracted responding to a reply on Facebook, and as my sausages burned on the stove and filled my apartment with smoke, I thought, "Hey! I wonder if I ever wrote down any notes for future blog posts in my iBrain?"

What do ya know? I did! A reader named Dave wrote me one Spring to ask me about goal setting. And such a timely letter, too. I just wrote about goal setting the other day, and it's been only two years since I promised to share Dave's email. That's pretty good, all things considered.

I am 42 and was diagnosed with ADHD last year. I just stumbled on your blog while searching out ADHD advice. I appreciate your honesty about your life. Your way of thinking is a spitting image of my thinking. While being intelligent and creative, I have not been able to ‘grow’ a ‘career’. I viciously compare myself to other’s achievements and possessions and fall very short in my mind. The depression as a result is brutal. Is there a better way to live? What works and what does not? What do I do next? Any suggestions?

Dave (Submitted on May 9th, 2010 at 5:28am) 

What I do, Dave, is set a goal, then identify the obstacles. Then I try to get around the obstacles. I have to tune out the achievements of others or it will drive me crazy. The comparison is NEVER kind.

Inevitably, I will fail. That’s when I reset the goal, and re-identify the obstacles. Sometimes I need to break things down smaller and smaller until I can surmount my hurdles. Looking back, it appears that I leaped over them deftly, but I know the truth. I crawled under them!

This is a good comment. If I remember, I will dedicate a blog to it next week. Be sure to let me know if I forget! Haha… (so likely) 

Douglas Cootey (Submitted on June 10th, 2010 at 4:22pm

Regrettably, Dave never remembered to remind me to share that with you. Ah, the blind leading the blind. At least I was right about one thing.

If you have a question for me, click on the "Contact Info" link in my footer, or right there since I just linked it for you. I promise to remember to reply. Maybe even this year.

Tomorrow I have a big techy blog ready for you. I also put up a poll on daydreaming for your input in the sidebar. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Meanwhile, I have some burnt sausage to bite through for lunch.

~Dˢ

Update: The sausage was charred.