If you’re an Evernote user, then you’ve probably used Skitch or, if not, you’ve at least heard about it before. Skitch is actually a tool that will allow its users to draw annotations, shapes, and sketches to communicate their ideas better and faster. Today, Evernote is announcing that Skitch for Android has just been upgraded to version 2. Today’s announcement is a follow-up to the company’s series of updates on iOS, Mac, and Windows. Skitch for Android 2.0 brings a new look and adds a couple of new features that makes integration with Evernote even more powerful.
Design-wise, Skitch for Android now has a better home screen. The new design is simpler, cleaner, and more informative. Evernote is also adding three new features into Skitch for Android – Pixelate, Highlighter, and Panning Tool. Pixelate will allow users to obscure a part of an image that may contain personal or sensitive information while the Highlighter lets you emphasize content clearly by adjusting its color and line thickness. The Panning Tool, on the other hand, will allow users to select, move and resize annotations in a breeze. Skitch for Android 2.0 also adds a new button at the bottom of the screen to view all your Skitch notes. You can get the newly updated app here.
Users haven’t exactly been content with Evernote since it took over the Skitch reigns, but that’s not stopping the Smart Notebook creator from pushing out constant updates to its Android offering. To go along with the handy tweaks from earlier this month, Evernote’s now updated Skitch with a completely redesigned user interface, the addition of a couple of fresh tools (Pixelate and Highlighter), as well as, naturally, a much-improved integration with its own cloud-based service — not to mention the ability to sync with Evernote, though said application would have to also be installed on your device. This new version of Skitch is available to download now via Google Play, and be sure to share your first impressions with us in the comments below.
If you’re an Evernote user on Android and you’ve never used Skitch, now is a better time than ever – they’ve just updated their build to include more integration between apps than ever! This update brings what the developers behind both apps call the “full Evernote treatment” which includes a full overhaul on the aesthetics you’ve got in your user interface – and on your ability to use the app as well, of course. This update also includes several new features that’ll help you edit images for notes to your delight.
The update to Skitch includes a brand new clean homescreen, first of all, making it easier to use and nicer than ever to look at. You’ve got Pixelate and Highlighter now to help edit images, too. With Pixelate you’ve got the ability to obscure part of an image if you want it to be entirely private. With Highlighter you’ve got basically the opposite of Pixelate – it’s the partially transparent paintbrush you’ve been waiting for – highlight those notes!
You’ve got a brand new Planning tool, too – here you’ll be able to select, move, and resize all of your annotations in notes galore. Make sure you’re taking extra special care to plan, highlight, and pixelate with no less than the most refined version of Skitch on the market yet. This version is available for download right this minute from the Google Play app store across the USA and in most regions across the planet as well.
Have a peek at this new version of Skitch and let us know how it’s working out for you – also have a peek at our timeline below to see recent news surrounding Evernote to see how you’ll be able to go cross-platform no matter where you’re going or what you’re working with! Keep taking those notes!
Short version: Livescribe is refining its smartpen once again. The two major changes are the addition of WiFi and Evernote integration. Now, the pen uses and depends on Evernote for syncing and archiving notes.
Like or hate it, the new Livescribe pen is all about Evernote. When CEO Gilles Bouchard came to work for Livescribe, the company was already working on a WiFi version of its smartpen. He met Evernote CEO Phil Libin ten days after starting his new job. It was the best way to bring Livescribe to a tablet.
“Tablet is the best thing that has happened to us. What was missing was filling the gap between paper and tablet,” Bouchard said.
Yet, the Oakland-based company’s focus hasn’t changed. The core idea remains using the qualities of paper to take notes and bringing them to a computer, a tablet or a phone. It’s just now easier to take advantage of Livescribe’s key feature.
As a writer, I’m a natural user for this kind of device. When I do an interview, I usually take notes and record the audio with my iPhone. Listening to the audio file is the most painful process when it comes to writing a post afterwards.
The Livescribe pen, the notes and the recording are not only handled by the pen, but are synced together. When playing back your notes on your computer or tablet (the player uses HTML5), you can click or tap on a certain sentence to jump instantly to the corresponding audio part of the interview. It’s a timesaver.
For avid Evernote users, it will be the perfect evolution. After receiving the new Livescribe pen, I tried using Evernote as my main note taking app for about two weeks. A few days ago, I switched back to Simplenote and Justnotes, because I couldn’t handle Evernote’s bulkiness and slowness.
Livescribe notes don’t count toward your Evernote quota as you can upload 500 MB of Livescribe content before starting eating up your quota. It represents around 50 hours of audio and written notes. The most expensive Sky WiFi comes with one year of Evernote Premium — a $50 value.
Evernote is now only my Livescribe repository. Those who deal with hundreds of notes and tags in Evernote will be glad to find their Livescribe notes in it. But it won’t be the case for me.
More integrations and services will be released in the coming weeks, such as Dropbox and Google Drive integration. The company will release an SDK so that mobile app developers will be able to take advantage of the pen’s data. Bouchard was excited by the possibilities and evolutions that will become available to Sky WiFi owners.
The battery is quite good. As an occasional user, I only had to plug the pen every couple of days.
Finally, you still have to use Livescribe’s paper. The pen comes with an A5 notebook and new notebooks aren’t expensive. But I like to be able to use whatever paper I want with my pen without having to look for my “device” (in this case, a notebook and a pen). I usually keep my pen in my pocket, an inexpensive Pilot Hi-Tec-C that I throw away when there is no ink left. I wouldn’t do that with a Livescribe pen. The simplicity of pen and paper is lost along the way.
Heavy note takers and/or Evernote users should consider using a Livescribe pen, because it’s a great device. I may continue using it occasionally for interviews, but for my personal notes, I’ll keep using a simple pen.
If you do a lot of interviews without your computer, attend math classes or like the novelty of a digital pen, then you are a potential customer. The initial investment is high, but the flexibility of paper brought to the digital environment is impressive and actually useful. I look forward to seeing the potential third-party apps and services that will pop up in the coming months.
As you take notes and record audio with Livescribe’s new Sky WiFi Smartpen, the device automatically uploads the data to Evernote. This is an update to the company’s Echo pen. That 2010 launch digitally stored your notes onboard and transferred them via USB, but the Sky does it all wirelessly. More »
For all that we’re told to live digitally in the cloud, there are still plenty of people who rely on handwritten notes in a Moleskine or similar to keep their lives in order. Livescribe wants to build a bridge between paper and digital, and the new Livescribe Sky WiFi smartpen is its latest attempt: a digital pen that can record all of your handwriting and sketches, as well as audio, and upload it wirelessly to the ever-popular Evernote. New sharing features, and the promise of toolkits for integrating the smartpen with iPhone and Android apps, gild the deal, but do we really need a pen that can squirt ink onto the internet? Read on for the full SlashGear review.
Hardware
At first glance, the Livescribe Sky looks just like a fat pen: perhaps something you’d give a child to more easily grip as they learned to write. Inside, though, there’s a lot going on. Livescribe says that, while externally the design is pretty much identical to its previous Echo model – bar a slightly different color scheme for the lower half – on the inside it’s almost entirely different.
The replaceable nib sits next to a small camera that faces down at the page, tracking what you’re writing. All you get in the way of physical controls is a power button, which sits by a monochrome, single-line OLED display, a microphone, and a small speaker. A 3.5mm audio jack is on the top, which also doubles as a microphone input, and there’s a microUSB port for hooking up your computer or recharging the internal battery.
In the hand, the Sky takes some getting used to versus regular pens. The thickness of the barrel feels strange, oversized, and the taper – which gets broader up toward the top half – can feel unnatural. That can end up making your handwriting in initial notes somewhat more untidy than usual, though you do get used to the feel of it over time. The lid – which slides in firmly to cover both the nib and the camera lens – can be a little tricky to remove, too, and is easily lost since there’s nowhere on the phone to clip it when you’re writing.
With so few controls on the pen itself, actually taking advantage of the Sky’s functionality relies on the specially printed paper notebooks. The pages in these are covered in a unique pattern of microdots, which the camera in the tip can track; each page has a different layout of dots, meaning the record of each note is unique, and – as long as it’s turned on – the SmartPen always knows where it’s pointing.
That’s the case for writing and sketching, but it also means Livescribe can print controls onto the paper and have the Sky recognize those. You get the usual buttons for menu navigation, record/pause/stop, jump forward/backward a few seconds in playback, media position, playback speed, and volume/mute printed along the bottom of the page, and tapping them with the nib triggers the appropriate function. At the back of the notebook there’s a scientific calculator – results are shown on the smartpen’s display – and buttons to set the time and date. It’s all very responsive, with no lag from when you tap.
However, the Sky version gets a new page of wireless controls, printed on the inside front cover of the notebook and – for those with pre-Sky notebooks – sticky labels printed with the same buttons. There’s a big WiFi setup section, with buttons to scan for networks, scroll through the list of results on the smartpen’s screen, and then select it, plus a QWERTY keyboard to enter the password; you also get buttons to turn WiFi on/off, trigger a firmware check, and sync with the cloud. A new block of WiFi Share controls will, eventually, allow you to fire off select notes via email (to yourself), to Google Drive, to Facebook, and to Dropbox, though those features won’t be available until Q1 2013.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to connect to WiFi connections that require you to log in via a webpage (such as is often the case in hotels or cafes). Instead, Livescribe recommends either using the mobile hotspot feature on your phone or laptop, or synchronizing notes via the free Livescribe Helper Application, which pulls them off the smartpen over a USB connection.
Three versions of Sky will be offered, a 2GB for $169.95/£159.99, a 4GB for $199.95/£179.99, and an 8GB for $249.95/£224.99. They store around 200 hours, 400 hours, or 800 hours of audio respectively; the 8GB model also comes with a leather smartpen folio and a one-year subscription to Evernote Premium. All versions get 500MB of dedicated Evernote upload allowance. Livescribe will continue to sell the Echo smartpen as an entry-level model, though it lacks wireless and still demands the old Livescribe Desktop app.
Livescribe Sky WiFi smartpen demo:
Software, Evernote, and Sharing
Ditching the Livescribe Desktop software is arguably the best news about the new Sky smartpen. The old app was functional but didn’t make sharing notes straightforward, particularly if they had audio attached. By switching to Evernote, however, Livescribe has sidestepped needing to handle management software, and the cloud-based notebook service’s own sharing tools – together with some HTML5 magic – mean collaborating with notes is far easier.
When you first set the Sky smartpen up, running through Livescribe’s online guide, you associate it with your Evernote account (or set up a new one). A new notebook is created in Evernote, and any new scribblings you make are automatically filed in there. Evernote already has clients for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and other platforms, or you can access notes via the browser view.
Most of the time you can leave the smartpen to its own devices when it comes to synchronizing. It’s triggered when you come back within range of a previously-saved WiFi network (though we occasionally had problems with the odd wireless network not being auto-resumed, and had to manually search, select, and connect to it, though the Sky smartpen did save the password), and – if a connection is present while you’re actually writing – notes are automatically uploaded when you press the “stop” button to end audio recording. The #1 shortcut button on the top of some notebook pages is also set to trigger a manual sync by default, and there’s another button to do the same printed as part of the WiFi controls layout.
Upload speed itself will obviously depend on how fast your data connection is. Text-only notes are gone in seconds, while audio comes in at between 7.2MB to 35.6MB per hour depending on quality and whether it was recorded in mono through the Sky’s integrated microphone, or in stereo via the optional microphone accessory Livescribe offers. Uploads continue while you’re taking notes, but are paused if you start recording more audio.
Once they’re safely stored in Evernote, you can use most of the service’s regular tools with them. They can be tagged though you can’t change the titles as otherwise Livescribe will lose track of which notebook page relates and you won’t be able to sync any amendments later on; notes with audio recordings are clearly flagged up in the collated list, as well as pulled out into a separate section for easier review. Evernote can even pull up search results from handwritten text, though the accuracy of that obviously depends on your penmanship. We had mixed results, though if you try to get into the habit of writing titles and subtitles in block text, it makes digging through notes with search more consistent.
Evernote also has integrated sharing tools, and coupled with Livescribe’s new HTML5 player it’s incredibly easy to pass notes on to others. If you send an email, the recipient sees an image of the note which, if they click on it, opens up the new player in their browser. A media control bar operates audio playback – the text goes from grey to green as it tracks along with the recording – or you can click on any point in the notes to jump the audio to that specific place. There are easy buttons to flip between pages, along with controls to skip forward or backward in 10 second increments. Any HTML5-compliant browser should be able to view the pages, too, including those on your iOS or Android phone.
You can see a demo of a shared Livescribe note here [opens in new window].
In the Pen Pipeline
Adding wireless to the Sky smartpen is just the start of Livescribe’s ambitions, however. The company is hoping to turn the digital stylus into a platform, not just a product, with multiple partnerships simmering away for launch over the next few quarters.
Arguably most useful will be the extra sharing options Livescribe is cooking up. Pencast PDF is due in Q1 2013, embedding notes – complete with audio – into PDFs that can be opened up in Adobe Reader 10 (or newer). Considering the HTML5 player requires a web connection, that will clear the way for offline playback; it also adds another level of security, since there’s no way to password protect a shared HTML5 note sent from Evernote. As long as someone has the URL, they can play back your recording; Livescribe tells us that updated security settings to address that are coming in the next important feature release.
Also worth remembering is that a shared note isn’t a fixed, immutable thing: if you subsequently add to a page you’ve shared with somebody, they’ll be able to see the sync’d additions by clicking the original link they were sent. There’s no apparently way to limit them to the state of the note at any one, fixed point in time; nor any way to “unshare” that note. In short, don’t add any extra jottings to a note that you might not want anybody it was shared with to subsequently read.
Also being worked on is transcription. Liverscribe is collaborating with Vision Objects on technology to convert handwritten notes into text, and with other developers on the same for audio recordings, though releases for both haven’t been pinned down to anything other than “in the future.”
Before then will be SDKs for iOS and Android, allowing third-party developers to integrate Sky smartpen functionality into their apps. The iOS SDK will arrive in Q4 2012, with the Android version following on in Q1 2013; Livescribe sees huge potential in linking handwritten notes with digital content, for instance.
The company has come up with a few demo apps – not for public release, sadly – such as one which allows handwritten annotations to be appended to PDF documents shown on-screen, by jotting them down on a physical notebook. There’s also a collaborative whiteboard app, which permits up to thirty people to remotely work on a single virtual whiteboard, each making notes on their Livescribe pad. Exactly when we’ll see the first such apps is unclear, and Livescribe isn’t talking about specific developers it’s working with.
Battery
Livescribe quotes 11-12 hours of recording audio with wireless turned off, or 4-5 hours if the WiFi is on. That obviously increases considerably if you’re only taking handwritten notes, not recording audio at all, and an imminent firmware update is expected to squeeze even more runtime out of the smartpen.
In practice, we managed nearly two weeks of intermittent use – with WiFi always on, but turning the Sky smartpen off in-between bouts of note taking – and the battery gage dropped by half. That’s with a couple of pages of notes per day, perhaps a third of which had audio recordings as well.
Wrap-Up
Livescribe’s smartpens always made sense for personal note taking, but they also demanded some extra degree of organization in use: remembering to plug them into your computer to sync, and then sharing them via the company’s awkward homegrown sharing system if you ever wanted to review them from elsewhere. Packaging up the Sky smartpen with WiFi and Evernote support addresses each of those problems neatly: now, all you need do is flip the pen on when you get home and your notes are not only pulled straight to the cloud, but distributed to all your Evernote-sync’d devices.
You can read notes on your phone, on your tablet, via the browser on your computer at work, and anywhere else Evernote is accessible. That will get even better when integration with other cloud services is added at the start of next year. Plus, Livescribe’s HTML5 player means showing other people your notes needn’t be the headache it has been so far.
Some still can’t grasp the value of a digitally-enabled pen, and it’s true, there are many who can take notes on their smartphone or tablet screen just as quickly as they can handwrite. For those who want their sketches to be included, however, or who still enjoy the feel of a physical pen nib on physical paper, Livescribe offers the best of that tactile experience with the convenience of digital backup and sharing. The inclusion of wireless to streamline that process only makes it more appealing.
The Pulse pen couldn’t do it. The more recent Echo couldn’t manage it either. But sending notes and linked audio wirelessly is what Livescribe‘s latest digital pen is all about. Branded the Sky WiFi Smartpen, it works with proprietary physical notebooks to preserve your handwritten notes and linked audio files on a minimum of 2GB of onboard storage, and then it sends them directly to your Evernote account via WiFi — from where you can access them on pretty much any PC, tablet or smartphone. If you’re wondering a how the pen selects the right network and enters a password, then it’s actually pretty straightforward: Livescribe’s new stationery is printed with connection buttons that, in conjunction with the OLED display on the pen itself, guide you through the procedure in a few seconds. The latest notebooks also have buttons for sending your captured thoughts to Google Drive, Dropbox and Facebook, although those services won’t be activated until early next year.
The basic 2GB Sky pen will arrive in stores on November 1st, priced substantially higher than its predecessor, the Echo (which will be phased out at the end of next year). The new base model will cost $170, with 4GB and 8GB varieties priced at $200 and $250. Arguably, the reliance on wireless cloud storage means that the amount of onboard memory isn’t so important any more, but if you do decide to opt for the most expensive model then you’ll also get a year’s subscription to Evernote Premium, which is worth $45. There’s a short explanatory video after the break, and as you’ll see from the gallery below we’ve already got the Sky pen in our clutches, so expect a full review in short order.
We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Benjamin, who feels a little let down by the most recent changes to Evernote’s image-sharing software. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
“Hi guys. I’m a graphic designer who, until recently, used a desktop app called Skitch to quickly share images with clients. I loved being able to just click and drag a portion of my desktop, click “share” and have it uploaded in a seconds. Of course, Evernote has screwed with it, so now it won’t default to keeping my pictures private (not so good for the clients, or my reputation) and the new layout hides the sharing feature in a stupid drop-down menu. Frankly, a really useful piece of software has been ruined, so can you suggest a replacement?”
We feel your pain Benjamin, even if we did have to slice out your more colorful descriptions of Evernote from your e-mail. A site favorite has been ruined by the changes, and as such we’re on the hunt for an alternative.
Jing, from TechSmith lets you share screenshots and even record video on your desktop.
Slingshot is a Mac exclusive that’ll set you back $3, but uses the cloud service of your choice (Dropbox, Imgur etc)
Of course, this is the moment where we turn it over to our amazing commenters, who we hope will share the skinny. You never know, maybe some enterprising indie dev has already created the program to replace that hole in our lives — friends, head down below, grab the candle and bang on.
Evernote, the application that turns note-taking into an art form, has announced the arrival of Evernote 5 for Mac. Slated for beta released on October 29, this version brings with it over 100 new features and an updated user interface. Included in the announcement is a video showing off the latest and greatest features and its slick UI.
The sidebar provides access to shortcuts to your favorite notebooks, notes, and tags, making it easy to quickly access your content. Also included is a Recent Notes section, which displays the five most recently-edited notes, as well as dedicated buttons for accessing and organizing notes, and a right-click feature for viewing expanded lists.
Evernote 5 for Mac features an improved Notes List, which now offers a single list of all the notes from personal and Joined Notebooks. Snippets view displays a note’s notebook and its shared status, while Cards view allows users to browse notes in the form of cards. Also added is the ability to add/change a note’s location via either the “Location” text field or a button that automatically inserts the user’s current location.
For the sake of simplicity and time management, Evernote 5 for Mac includes a handful of new shortcuts that allow users to easily toggle to a notebook, switch to All Notes, the main sidebar sections, and Shortcuts, to edit the current note’s title and tags, and to indent text. Grid view displays stacks and notebooks (both personal and Joined) on a single screen, while list view displays the same information in a more compact manner. This is just a touch of the multitude new features, and Evernote users are sure to be pleased.
Skitch, the popular screenshot and image-editing tool, has arrived for Windows 7 and Windows 8. The “Windows Desktop” version is essentially for Windows 7, but it also works on Windows 8 as a legacy app. The Windows 8 version, however, is fully compatible with Microsoft’s new operating system, so you’ll get a seamless Skitch experience in Windows 8 when using their native Windows 8 app.
Skitch for Windows 8 has a new interface that includes the familiar Windows 8-style tiles, and there’s also some new features that are included. There’s a Pixelate feature that allows you to quickly pixelate a section of an image out, whether it’d be personal information or even a funny NSFW photo where you might not want to reveal everything.
There’s also a highlighter tool that let’s you quickly highlight text in an image, and you can even change the styling of the highlighter such as color and thickness. And not surprisingly, since Skitch is owned by the popular note-taking application Evernote, the two apps are seamlessly integrated with one another.
Probably one of the biggest new features is the addition of map integration. If you want to tell someone where to meet you by using a map, simply click the Map icon, search for the location, and then just draw an arrow with some text. Then, all you have to do is save the image and send it to your friend.
Both Skitch apps are available now. The Windows 8 app can be found the Windows Store, and the Windows Desktop app can be downloaded directly from the Skitch website.
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If you’re an Evernote user, then you’ve probably used Skitch or, if not, you’ve at least heard about it before. Skitch is actually a tool that will allow its users to draw annotations, shapes, and sketches to communicate their ideas better and faster. Today, Evernote is announcing that Skitch for Android has just been upgraded to version 2. Today’s announcement is a follow-up to the company’s series of updates on iOS, Mac, and Windows. Skitch for Android 2.0 brings a new look and adds a couple of new features that makes integration with Evernote even more powerful.
