PEN

How to make a free iPad stylus

I've known for years that there are special pens that can be used with capacitive touch screens, like the ones used on the iPad or any modern tablet or smartphone. Still, I've never bought one. It's not that they're too expensive (some are as cheap as $5), it's just that my curiosity doesn't match the level of patience required to order one online and wait a few days for it to show up.

So when I read iLearn Technology's tutorial on making your own capacitive stylus using common office supplies, I had to … Read more

Griffin crams laser pointer and pen into a stylus

Most modern business warriors don't need actual Swiss Army knives in the course of a typical work day. But they do love gadgets with Swiss Army-style features.

The Griffin Stylus + Pen + Laser Pointer not only sports a very long and specific name, it also delivers exactly what it promises. It's a stylus with a built-in pen and laser pointer.

This device is designed to withstand the rigors of the conference room battleground, survive the brutal world of tablet input, write grand poetry on actual paper, and amuse bored cats.

The pen part of the Stylus + Pen + Laser Pointer … Read more

Wacom gives sketchers an Inkling of the future

When it comes to tools for integrating freehand art into the digital workflow, Wacom remains the leader. Its tools aren't perfect--and certainly aren't cheap--but it's hard to find any more respected. And when it comes to drawing, nothing yet beats pen (or pencil) and paper for fluidity and portability. Wacom attempts to combine the best of both worlds with its Inkling, a pen and receiver combo that tracks your penstrokes for up to 50 sketches and uploads them to a computer for use with applications like Photoshop or Illustrator.

This tutorial video from Wacom shows you how … Read more

Olympus reveals specs, prices for its smallest PEN camera

First announced at the end of June, today Olympus delivered the final specifications and pricing for its most compact interchangeable-lens camera, the E-PM1. Though at $499.99 it's the least expensive of Olympus' 2011 models, two of the first-generation models, the E-PL1 and E-P1, remain in the product line at the same price. There's no doubt that the PM1 is the smallest and lightest of the group, though.

Here's Olympus' current PEN lineup. (Sorry, no room in table for E-P2 specs.)… Read more

USB lock and key

Portable storage devices can be a blessing and a curse. They're a convenient way to back up data and make files portable, but they can also introduce malware to your computer and let people easily copy files that they're not supposed to remove. Pen Drive Unlocker is a simple utility that lets users lock and unlock their computer's USB ports, protecting their machines from the unauthorized use of external storage devices.

There's not much to Pen Drive Unlocker, really; the interface consists of a small rectangle with a drop-down menu that lets you select Normal, Read … Read more

Olympus reveals specs, pricing for PEN E-PL3

About a month ago Olympus announced its PEN interchangeable-lens (ILC) lineup for the rest of the year, and has been dribbling out the specs and cameras. The latest info to come out is for the E-PL3, the line's midrange model, which is designed to be more compact than the higher-end E-P3 but with a similar feature set and performance. Here are the complete specs, along with those of some direct competitors:

  Olympus E-PL2 Olympus E-PL3 Olympus E-P3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 Sony Alpha NEX-C3 Sony Alpha NEX-5 Sensor (effective resolution) 12.3-megapixel Live MOS 12.3-megapixel Live MOS 12.… Read more

Make your MacBook look like a real book

Yes, we all know it's called a MacBook (and a laptop can also be called a notebook), but that doesn't mean these portable computing products actually have any resemblance to real books.

One innovative case maker has a solution for bibliophiles who want a little more book in their MacBooks. Pad & Quill, previously known for its iPad cases, has a new case called the Cartella, designed to fit either the 11-inch or 13-inch MacBook Air. We tried the $79 11-inch version, as seen in the accompanying photos; the larger 13-inch version runs $89.

The company designed this … Read more

CES: Lenovo unveils Windows 7 IdeaPad Slate

LAS VEGAS--We thought we had seen everything Lenovo was ready to throw at us at CES 2011 in the laptop/tablet universe, but a surprise new addition was unveiled late last night: a Windows version of the LePad slate coming later this year, tentatively called the IdeaPad Slate.

The 10-inch tablet has nearly the same hardware design as the LePad, with different internal components: the same flash storage, but a next-gen Intel Atom CPU instead of the LePad's Qualcomm Snapdragon. The Windows tablet, at this point not officially named, has a stylus for pen input as well as multitouch, … Read more

E Fun launching three new Android tablets

Consumer electronics company E Fun is bumping up its lineup of Android tablets.

Appearing at CES this week, E Fun will be demoing its new Next4, Next5, and Next6 tablets, all with built-in Wi-Fi and access to the Borders e-book store.

Running Android 2.2, the 10.1-inch Next4 will retail for $349.99, while the Android 2.1-equipped 7-inch Next6 will cost consumers $269.99. Both models include 2GB of memory, an SD card slot, a viewer for MP3 files and photos, built-in speakers, 25 pre-loaded books, and a G-sensor accelerometer that reacts when you tilt and move the … Read more