Logitech's digital pen

We’ve been waiting for one for ages but now at last digital pens are to go on sale in the UK. The pens, which archive a person’s handwriting and then transfer their scrawl to a PC, have been around for ages in Japan, the US and parts of Europe. Now Logitech is to sell its io pen via its website from October 1st for the very competitive £150

Users take the pen, which features a traditional nib and write on special paper (available at around £4 per pad). As the pens boast an optical sensor that behaves like a camera it stores the handwriting, which can then be transferred to a PC via a USB connection.

The handwriting can then be stored on the PC; exported into applications such as Word or Adobe Illustrator or converted into text using handwriting recognition software (a month’s free trial is included in the bundle). Each page is kept as a separate document, although the software does have the facility to search for handwritten key words.

Logitech reckons the pen is sure to prove popular with people who take notes at meetings and students who wish to transcribe their lectures (err, talk us through that concept).

Personally we found the pen most useful in saving phone numbers – you can buy dedicated Post-it notes for £3. As for the handwriting recognition software, well it proved a bit hit or miss – but we’ll admit our handwriting is especially bad.