Anoto's digital pen and paper due in 2001

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
Swedish company Anoto, developer of the innovative Bluetooth pen and digital paper system, is gearing up to drive its technology to market via a wide range of third parties. These include mobile phone makers, PC peripheral vendors and paper manufacturers. Speaking to ZDNet UK at CeBIT 2001, Anoto's chairman Orjan Johansson outlined the company's plans for the renaissance of pen and paper, which centre around a raft of partnership agreements including a proposed one with pen computing specialist A T Cross. Anoto's digital paper uses a pattern of very small printed dots, a tiny portion of which identifies a particular piece of papers' position in the total application space. You write on the paper with the Anoto pen -- a chunky ballpoint equipped with a miniature digital camera, an image processor and a Bluetooth transceiver -- and send the resulting output to your PC, your handheld, or anywhere else via the Internet using a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. Unique patterns within check boxes on the paper can be assigned functions such as email, fax and SMS. See a picture of Anoto's Bluetooth pen When Anoto technology reaches the market towards the end of this year, early adopters are most likely to encounter it as a bundle including the pen, a Bluetooth mobile phone and a starter pack of special paper. At CeBIT, Ericsson is showing an Anoto-based 'Chatpen' and is evaluating the technology as a potential 'value-add' for its recently released Bluetooth phones. Motorola and Logitech are also showing Anoto-based pens in Hannover. Anoto has signed up a wide range of paper product manufacturers, including 3M, At-A-Glance, Charles Letts, Esselte, Filofax, Franklin Covey, Mead, Time Manager International and Time System International. New mobile operators supporting the Anoto concept include Europolitan Vodafone, Telia's portal company, the wonderfully-named Speedy Tomato, and Spanish Telefónica Móviles. Ericsson Microsoft Mobile Venture plans to make Moso, its mobile email solution, compatible with Anoto, while Finnish telephone operator Sonera is also evaluating Anoto services. So will we all be scribbling on digital notepads, organizers, advertisements, Post-It notes, maps, restaurant menus and so on anytime soon? Reviewers and early adopters will get their hands on Anoto products before the end of 2001, and the feedback generated will play a large part in what happens after that. If usability, reliability and security are all up to scratch, Anoto could deliver on its promise of a revolution in the way we interact with computer technology. Take me to the CeBIT 2001 special report home page I'd like to look round the CeBIT 2001 gallery Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Click on the TalkBack button and go to the ZDNet News forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom. And read what others have said.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

3 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

12 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

20 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

22 hours ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

22 hours ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

1 day ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

1 day ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material