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Electronic Pen Lets You Scribble on Your PC

Cross%squots new Crosspad captures your handwritten notes and transfers them as images.

By Yardena Arar, PCWorld   

The Crosspad, an electronic pen and clipboard set being previewed at Comdex, lets you transfer images of your scribbles on standard 8.5-by-11-inch notebooks to your PC. As you write, the pen transmits a signal based on your hand motion to the clipboard underneath the pad. When you%squotre ready to start a new page, you tap one of several small icons at the lower right of the clipboard; a small display keeps track of which page you%squotre on.

The Crosspad-to-PC transfer is accomplished in moments via a cable that attaches to any COM port; you simply tap a button to initiate the transfer. You can view the contents on screen, as well as modify them with italic, highlighted, or bold text.

You can save the documents as image files for printing, faxing, or e-mailing; or you can use IBM%squots bundled Ink Manager to convert your handwriting to ASCII text for use in other applications. (However, you%squotll have to spend about an hour teaching the Ink Manager to recognize your handwriting first.)

The pen is elegant but slightly heavier and thicker than a standard fountain pen. It uses ballpoint-like tips that are sold in magazines of five and slide into the side of the clipboard, which is a bit thicker than most. Both pen and clipboard are battery-powered.

Cross plans to ship the Crosspad late in the first quarter of 1998 at a suggested retail price of $399.