What about a pen and pad that remembers everything you write. What if while you are writing these notes it is also recording what is said and you can go back to what was say moments before you wrote the note?

That would be really nice huh?

Well in this era of tablets and smartphones, I still find that writing and accessing my notes in a written form is still quite productive and easy to find. So for a few years now I have extolled the benefits of the Livescribe smart pen.

One issue with the Livescribe is that I had to dock it with my computer (only one computer) and transfer the information. I could then sync it to an internet cloud note-taking solution like Evernote. I could go weeks between syncs and sometimes be in need of what I had jotted down but it hadn't made it to the cloud yet!

Answer solved: Livescribe Sky is a new version that has wi-fi built into the pen itself. And now I can send my notes directly to Evernote. This is exactly what I needed.

Walt Mossberg's AllThingsD.com confirms there will be two separate Apple product introductions this fall. The iPhone 5 in September and the iPad Mini in October.

I had previously mentioned in my Exciting Products Yet To Launch This Fall 2012 piece a couple weeks ago that they would both be at the September 12 media event.

Instead Apple will focus consumers on the smartphone at the September 12th event before rolling out the smaller (7") iTablet during the iPod refresh event. And while nothing is certain until the events, even the iPad Mini name is sounding more and more like it is a keeper.

Personally, I am due for an upgrade and am looking forward to the iPhone 5 introduction as I am still toting around a iPhone 4...never justifying the 4s upgrade. I'm certain the 5 will be a solid improvement over my current iPhone. As for the new, smaller iPad...I'm on the fence. Truth be told, like I have mentioned in past articles, I am almost preferring my Macbook Air on many occasions...where the iPad is really just my surfing, media consumption and games platform. Any content generation is largely left to my laptop.

But you never know what Apple might have up their sleeve with these introductions??? More as information comes available.

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

I am pretty excited about the forthcoming Pogo Connect stylus for iPad and iPhone. While there has been a slew of stylus'...none have really excited me. After using each of them, I was largely disappointed. Granted I am not an artist but I just felt like I was squishing a rubber or felt nub around to get some dimensionality into whatever I tried to sketch.


The good news is that there is a new set of solutions on the horizon that offer a path to provide greater control over the sensitivity and tactile nature of using a stylus on a tablet. Ten One Design (the makers of the basic but popular Pogo Sketch) is about to launch a Bluetooth 4.0, pressure sensitive stylus that communicates the pressure of the pen to the application wirelessly on the iOS device.

Artists have enjoyed this capability with some high-end graphics tablets and will surely enjoy this advancement but for me the best benefit of this type of solution is that the application can ignore all touch inputs except for the pen. If you have used a stylus to take notes on a multi-touch tablet, you probably have had the experience of your wrist touching the display and drawing something on the screen. This stylus can address this and turn note-taking into a joy.

I am really looking forward to this and some other intelligent stylus solutions to see how my tablet experience evolves. I will let you know when the price and availability is announced shortly.

Below is a video quickly highlighting the Pogo Connect's sensitivity at play...

We've heard a good bit about the new iPad 3 of late. Rave reviews about it's impressive display and fast 4G-LTE wireless speeds. I posted my own early thoughts about my purchase in the article titled "Not happy with my iPad 3 purchase". And while the new iPad is a marvel of modern capabilities, I guess that technology can also outpace some people's ability to adopt new products.

This comedy piece from Germany successfully crosses the language barrier and is definitely worth watching for a good laugh...

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

Looks like the crew over at allthingd.com have gotten word that Apple will be hosting an event the first week on March. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. This is the large hall that Apple announces BIG THINGS like the iPad 2 in early March last year.

We'll have to wait a bit for great clarification as we get closer to the date but expect more computing power, enhanced graphics capabilities and a higher resolution screen for great image clarity especially with small text and the like.

Still more questions than answers like...What will it be called? What resolution? How does older software look? How easily will it be to convert software to fit the new resolution? What new graphics capabilities such as 3D rendering enhancements, multi-tasking and the like.

Obviously Apple needs to continue to innovate in this space as the competitive products are maturing. Amazon's Fire fills a niche with its low powered, low cost Kindle Fire and ASUS with their high-powered Transformer Prime.

More as information starts to flow in...

Larry Pacey, award-winning designer tracks the latest news on consumer products, electronics, appliances, smart devices, networking and the gadget lifestyle.

For the latest news follow me on: ------------------------------ OR ------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter @WouldntMindThis Please comment below and share your thoughts. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at wouldntmind@gmail.com. Just my 2-cents, Larry

You've heard be talk about the Withings Wi-Fi scale and how it will monitor your daily weigh-ins and will even post the results to their central online service for tracking your weight discretely. OR it can automatically post it to Facebook or Twitter if you are so inclined.

I really love the device for its simple elegance of execution. It is smart. Smart devices always impress me. You can create multiple profiles for everyone in the family and hen you stand on the device, it even figures out which member of the family is standing on it and posts the results to that individuals history. All of this is done wirelesses...no fuss!

Well, Withings is introducing another scale. This one is the Withings Smart Baby Scale and it is compatible with the WiScale app already available for the original scale. The babies weight is automatically recorded the same as the original version and features the ability to monitor the weigh-ins via the app, emailed to a preset list of recipients or posted to Facebook and/or Twitter to keep doctors, friends or family up to date with baby's progress.

You can remove the basket as the infant grows into a toddler for extended use. And think of all that blackmail material you will have when junior grows up! Priceless ;-)

Look for the scale to be available by June 2012 and the app is free on iTunes.

You can check out the other great Health 2.0 products from Withings including the Withings Wi-Fi Scale and Blood Pressure Monitor already available on Amazon...

Parrot is bringing out a new AR.Drone at this year's CES. For those of you unfamiliar with the original, it is a remote controlled helicopter that leverages your iPad, iPhone or Android smart-device to steer. The AR.Drone has a camera and streams the footage to your device to get you a real birds-eye view of the no so mini-copters flight. The unmanned little aerial vehicle also features a series of augmented reality games where simulated graphics interact with the real-world settings to really spice up your flying adventure. And if you bring a friend along, there are games that actually allow for dog-fights between the two drones.


The 2.0 version ups the experience with an all-new 720p video camera which allows you to record the action in high-definition. A new 3D Magnetometer helps makes the Drone self-orient and an overall easier flying experience. Priced at $299 and available in the second quarter.

For recommendations on what to get and not get this holiday season...and avoid one of these OEM tablets. Check out WouldntMind.com: Don't Buy These for the Holidays - 2011!

This website is all about "great products" that can be turned into "great gifts". The past few months I have been posting each week some of the cool new products as they come to market. Be sure to check out Wouldntmind.com for a complete line up of reviews and product evaluations.

Recently I also compiled a couple lists of great gifts of Him and Her as well as a list for the Little Boys and Girls.

Be sure to check these write-up for great suggestions on product people Wouldn't Mind getting.

I have also mentioned Nielson's research on popular items on kids and adults minds. Check out the Nielsen's report here.

Photo courtesy of Disney

Disney is introduce this week a line of toy accessories for the iPad that transforms the tablet into an interactive playground. A $20 set of two toy cars will be available starting in October at Apple or Disney retail stores and free app will be available for download from iTunes at the same time.

Interactive elements of the iPad app include navigating around Radiator Springs, driving through obstacle courses, races and missions. As you can see below, there is a whole assortment of Cars-branded toys to collect and each unlocks new content in the app.

WARNING: Parents...do the math! That's $60!

Photo courtesy of Disney

VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi interviews Disney Mobile chief Bart Decrem about AppMates below...

Cook, Jobs & Schiller in 2009 | Source: Getty Images.

Let's talk a bit about Tim Cook and some scenarios around Apple's near-term future.

Tim has been Steve's No. 2 for many years and joined Apple in 1998. He stepped in to temporarily fill Jobs' shoes in 2004 and 2009 as Steve was going through the challenges and complications of pancreatic cancer.

The facts going forward as I see it:

1) Tim is a strong leader - What many people will tell you is that Tim is a dedicated and proactive leader and operational manager. He can and will run Apple like a well-oiled clock. Tim's roots are in fulfillment, operations and logistics and this shines through his professional and laser focus execution.

2) Tim is NOT Steve - Steve was the visionary. A master "producteer". Someone that develops insights, empathy and understands how to translate the vagaries of the marketplace and technologies into an entire product value-stream (end to end execution).

3) What you will hear about Apple's product pipeline - You will hear how Apple will have a pipeline of products "primed" for the next 12-24 months as that is how long it takes to translate concepts into reality. And the near-term is probably pretty solid indeed.

4) What you will NOT hear about Apple's challenges -  Forget about the obvious "Who will conceive of the next iDevice?" and ask yourself "Who will handle the near-term missteps?" Apple makes mistakes. Okay I said it! Who will be "navigating" the OVERALL Vision and Strategy on a "real-time basis" is not clear. Apple's style of innovation is not a "process" and it is born from a fire from a vision of what was seen as impossible but was possible with Apple's vast resources. Apple's strength is putting all the disparate pieces together is a cohesive manner. No one at Apple has demonstrated THAT overarching ability.

• I believe the Cloud services which are in their infancy will suffer without Steve. Online products change on a dime. You have to zig-and-zag to address consumer and competitive pressures. I believe this is an area that we will see the cracks first.
• iPhone5 and iPad3 will obviously drive revenue in the next 24 months as these platforms are clearly matured to the point that they will be available on all four major carriers in the US...probably simultaneously. And the rest of the world right behind. (For tablet purchasing advice @ WouldntMindThis)
• Macintosh computers are hot right now but they will probably fall into the "status quo" for the company.
• The "hidden in-between" product. An iPad/Macbook hybrid is probably in the cooker. Something super light and simple but with a keyboard. The Macbook Air serves this space but trust me...a device that is simpler than a Mac but with a keyboard is probably out there somewhere in the Cupertino halls. Add some custom user experiences into that form-factor/package and you probably have the uber-communications platform.

Today Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO and appointed Tim Cook at CEO. Steve will maintain his role as Chairman of the Board.

Steve posted the following note:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee. 

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role. 

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you. 

Steve