First look: Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen for the Mac

Livescribe announced Monday that it would release a public beta of Livescribe Desktop for the Mac, the software that supports the formerly PC-only Pulse Smartpen. Chris Holt got a preview of the Mac version of the software and shares some first impressions of the innovative note-taking device.

Review Roundup: Keyboards and miceWant to add a little zing to your desktop or traveling gear? Older accessories becoming sluggish or outdated? A new keyboard or mouse may liven up your act, get some wires out of the way, or help you work faster, more accurately, or more comfortably.
Review: Kinesis Freestyle Solo Keyboard for MacKinesis' Freestyle Solo is a true ergonomic keyboard with a good design, multiple mounting options, and lots of useful, made-for-Mac features.

Review: Moshi Celesta keyboard If you’re looking for a Mac-styled keyboard but you’re not a fan of Apple’s own, Moshi’s Celesta is a stylish and functional alternative, albeit one that doesn’t offer as many special keys or as much customization as some other keyboards we’ve tested.
Review: Enhanced Visibility Keyboard VisiKey’s Wired Enhanced Visibility Internet Keyboard is unique among keyboards we’ve tested in that it’s designed for increased visibility. It also has a number of useful multimedia features and programmable buttons. However, the quality of its keys hampers an otherwise solid offering.
Review: Kinesis Freestyle Solo Keyboard for Mac Kinesis' Freestyle Solo is a true ergonomic keyboard with a good design, multiple mounting options, and lots of useful, made-for-Mac features.
Review: Razer ProType keyboard Razer's ProType is a unique keyboard that offers many specialized and programmable keys, as well as an integrated iPod dock. However, its size and system requirements may turn off some potential buyers.
Review: i-Rocks i-mini X-Slim keyboard i-Rocks' KR-6170M i-mini X-Slim offers surprisingly good typing feel for such an inexpensive keyboard, but you do get what you pay for: it offers none of the special features and extra keys that are common these days, and it has some key-layout oddities that may frustrate touch typists.

Geek Factor: Control the world Your Mac can already talk to all kinds of electronic devices. But there are plenty of other gizmos that your Mac can’t communicate with: motors, robots, external LCD displays, and sensors of all sorts. You’ll need a microcontroller to connect hobbyist hardware to your Mac. Brian Jepson shows you how it’s done.

Has the keyboard killed handwriting? Don Tennant's son is a talented 19-year-old and his handwriting looks like that of a four-year-old. Have computers destroyed the art of writing by hand?
Aluminum keyboard loses its luster Jonathan Seff changes his mind on Apple’s aluminum iMac keyboard design, finding it a bit too hard to type on.