Pentel Co Ltd will release a drawing tool using a digital pen with a limited release of 500 sets Nov 21, 2009, in Japan.
With the tool, "airpenDraw," information handwritten with the pen on paper (such as a rough sketch) can be stored in the flash memory of a receiver unit. The stored information can be transmitted to a PC by using dedicated software and converted to JPEG, TIFF, BMP, SVG and other data formats.
Furthermore, by clicking a button on the grip of the pen, the airpenDraw can be used to move a cursor on the PC screen and operate commercially available drawing software, enabling to give the finishing touches to a drawing transmitted to a PC.
Ultrasonic waves and infrared rays are emitted from the tip of the digital pen to send handwritten information to the receiver unit. A pressure-sensitive switch is used to detect handwritten information, and the pen tip does not sink much so that users do not feel odd. The airpenDraw is used exclusively for drawing images and has a higher response time than Pentel's similar drawing tools.
There is no manufacturer's suggested retail price. The set consists of the digital pen, the receiver unit, a CD-ROM of the dedicated software, A5- and A4-size boards, etc. The readable area is A4 size or smaller. The maximum data reading speed is 89 points per second. Depending on usage situations, a shear of about ±1.0mm can be caused by the tilt of the pen when handwritten information is being read.
The memory capacity is 2 Mbytes, which is equivalent to about 60 A5-size pages. Two SR41 button batteries are used for the pen for about 60 hours of continuous use, and an AAA battery is used for the receiver unit for about 90 hours of continuous use. The dimensions and weight of the pen are 18 x 14 x 145mm and about 22g, respectively, and those of the receiver unit are 170 x 17 x 44.5mm and about 60g.
The oil-based black ink "KFS7-AD" and the gel-based black ink "LRNKS5AH" are used for the pen. The airpenDraw can be used on Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 excluding 64-bit versions.
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