The biggest issue with the Harris handhelds was that they were more paperweight than PDA. They were too big (slightly larger than a cell phone), didn't transmit data very well, and at one point during testing there were 417 outstanding technical requirements not being met. "Reverting back to paper, which we've done in the past and know we can do, lessens the risk," says Stephen Buckner, a Census Bureau spokesman.

The silver lining to this story? The Bureau will still take delivery of 151,000 handsets "to check residential street addresses using the Global Positioning System." Kids these days call that Google Maps, but if the government wants to dole out billions for something we can do for free, then who is Gizmodo to argue? [The Washington Post]

If that statistic does not get your fabricated love's dopamine receptors to hypersensitive status on receipt of the gift, you are with the wrong fictional person (sorry). So what? That is one less person to get in your way when making/unleashing your paper planes at 50km/h using your $14.95 launcher kit. You can do better, buddy; a nonexistent girlfriend that refused to make out with you and continually nagged you about playing too much Xbox 360 isn't worth your effort, anyway. Keep looking, and go easy on the hallucinogens. [Product Page via Nerd Approved]

A 1884-sq ft sheet of Tetrapak was folded to make the boat, which is almost 30 feet long and weighs 55 pounds. Named "Bis Ans Ende der Welt" or Until The End Of The World, the $217 boat took just two hours to construct, and Frank reckons it will survive forty days (and, I assume, forty nights) before it disintegrates into a soggy mass of sinkability. I wonder if he'll do a paper airplane next? [Spluch and Abendblatt through Google Translate]

Compatible with all MP3 players, the cardboard mini boombox is out in September, but no details on price, as yet. Think of the fun you could have customizing it. [Suck UK via 7Gadgets]

If your problem is your inability to pull the trigger and choose rock, paper or scissors after the three-count is done, this should alleviate your problems. But if you've got trouble doing anything at all on time, then even pressing the button on three will be too much. However, there's no way to screw with your opponent and throw five rocks in a row just for the hell of it. – Jason Chen

Electronic Rock Paper Scissors [Prankplace via Nerd Approved]

The paper uses a mix of technologies (including e-ink) to embed digital information in each sheet. So when you touch a specific part of the paper, you'll hear a sound—be it a voice, music or the text that's on the paper.

A few prototypes show how the paper can be used in advertising or how posters in music stores might one day play tracks simply by having someone touch them. The idea is to use the paper for advertising (just what we needed, speaking ads). – Louis Ramirez

Digital Paper with Interactivity and Sound [GizMag]

I don't know about you, but if I had this in school, my written notes wouldn't have just sat there, unused in my notebook. You can click on the paper, and the whole audio segment plays itself back. That's also nice because you don't have to write every little thing down; you can take loose notes, and then actually spend time thinking about what the teacher/interviewee is saying.

The amount of RAM wasn't indicated, but I heard that the pen will store an hour 100 hours [UPDATED] of audio. Good for short assignments and lectures. The paper? You can print out the templates on almost any laser printer, and on many inkjets. They're more into selling the apps than the paper. And the pen's software development kit is going to be nice and open, so geeks can write their own apps on top of the ones you can buy. (And the pen already does neat stuff like the math and translation.)

The pen also uses some neat logic built into our hearing system to filter noise. The microphones are in the earbuds, in stereo. When your brain hears the same signal equally in both ears, it has a much better time focusing on that noise. As the microphones record the sound as your ears would ear it, it plays it back in the same stereo resolution. So your brain has an easy time filtering out the background rumble.

A very cool app, and Jim Marggraff's 6th generation paper interface device (He also made that cool talking globe for kids you can click on for geography lessons.) And if you're wondering if this thing'll read your handwriting, I can say with first hand knowledge that Jim's handwriting absolutely sucks, and it still read his. – Brian Lam

Livescribe Launches New Mobile Computing Platform

Smartpen, Applications, and Developer Tools Connect Paper and Digital Worlds

D: ALL THINGS DIGITAL, CARLSBAD, Calif. - May 30, 2007 - Livescribe Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jim Marggraff today unveiled a new chapter in mobile computing - a new paper-based computing platform. The Livescribe platform turns plain paper into a computer screen and bridges the gap between the paper and digital worlds. The platform enables a broad range of new applications in personal productivity, learning, communication, and self expression.

The Livescribe platform includes:

- Smartpen: a Montblanc-size computer with advanced processing power, audio/visual feedback, and substantial memory for handwriting capture, audio recording, and applications
- Dot Paper with Dot Positioning System (DPS): technology that enables interactive, "live" documents using plain paper printed with micro-dots
- Software Applications: a breadth of solutions that leverage audio/ink capture, handwriting recognition, and Internet connectivity to enhance personal productivity, learning, communication and self expression
- Development Tools: easy-to-use tools for consumers and developers to create, publish, and share or sell new applications and content online

The possibilities for paper-based applications are endless. Livescribe's first key application is "Paper Replay." When taking notes during a discussion or lecture, the smartpen records the conversation and digitizes the handwriting, automatically synching the ink and audio. By later tapping the ink, the smartpen replays the conversation from the exact moment the note was written. Notes and audio can also be uploaded to a PC where they can be replayed, saved, searched and sent.

Additional applications will be available for download from www.livescribe.com. Some use handwriting recognition. For example, when a user writes a math problem, the smartpen interprets the writing, calculates the answer and speaks or shows it on the smartpen's OLED display. When a user writes a word, the definition or even translation can be heard or seen. Other applications use pre-printed materials to bring paper to life. Tapping a magazine ad, map, customer survey, or study guide instantly launches an application and enables interaction. Still other applications use the power of the Internet to let people broadly share and collaborate. Handwritten messages can be sent as emails. Animated, hand-drawn "movies" can be posted and shared online. Spoken messages can be recorded, linked with written notes and emailed directly from a notepad. Livescribe holds intellectual property around these and other paper-based computing solutions.

"The basic modes of human communication - reading, writing, speaking and listening - are enhanced by Livescribe with a completely intuitive, portable, low-cost tool," said Marggraff. "A smartpen that captures your notes, records what you hear, solves your math problems, translates languages, and sends handwritten emails is extraordinary to experience. It is the harbinger of a new era of mobile computing."

"The Livescribe platform takes paper-based technology to a radical new level, integrating software applications with physical paper," said Rodney Brooks, Director of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. "I see the smartpen as just the beginning for a new class of device with almost unlimited potential."

Livescribe is funded by VantagePoint Venture Partners and has an executive management team with deep experience from successful consumer technology companies such as LeapFrog, Palm, Apple and IBM. Marggraff is best known for inventing LeapFrog's billion-dollar LeapPad platform and the award-winning FLY Pentop Computer. Joining him at the D conference are Chief Operating Officer Sasha Pesic and Chief Marketing Officer Byron Connell.

Anoto AB, inventor of optical pen technology and dot pattern, holds intellectual property that allows quick and reliable transmission of handwritten text from paper to digital media. Livescribe has licensed this technology for use in its smartpen and dot paper.

Product Availability
The Livescribe paper-based computing platform - a smartpen, dot paper, software applications, along with development tools - will be available online beginning in Q4. The smartpen will be less than $200. Additional dot paper will be available at prices comparable to standard paper products.

About D: All Things Digital
D: All Things Digital is a gathering of the movers and shakers who are at the forefront of the digital revolution. Producers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher invite the best people in the business each year to participate in D, including the individuals making news and successful leaders and pre-eminent thinkers who are shaping the digital world. The conference, which is sold out, takes place May 29-31 near San Diego, Calif. For more information, see http://d.wsj.com/.

About Livescribe
Located in Oakland, Calif., Livescribe has developed a new low-cost mobile computing platform that connects the paper and digital worlds. Founded by Jim Marggraff, an entrepreneur and inventor of paper-based computing, including the LeapPad and Fly Pentop Computer, the company is designing innovative solutions that enhance personal productivity, learning, communication, and self expression for anyone who writes with pen and paper. For more information, visit Livescribe at www.livescribe.com.

Product Page [Giftmonger]

And $29.95 for one week of self-satisfaction is a bargain in my book. – Mark Wilson

Product Page [via geekologie]

Personally we think these rolls make more sense than Sudoku ones, since we doubt anyone really wants to sit on the can for an hour solving a puzzle before you finish wiping. It kinda gets crusty after a while. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Gadget Box via Coolest Gadgets]

Press Release [via Daily Tech]

Stane's Island Sharp Pencil Quality TV

The keypad has a tear-away and fold-down design, and since the paper is very thin and light, the LEDs underneath are able to shine through. This is not going to do much for those poseurs who always must express themselves with only the swankiest, shiniest cellphones. But it might do in a pinch.

By the way, see what you can decipher from the nearly-unintelligible story (in Engrish) after the link—it's quite a rough translation. – Charlie White

Paper Says: Instant Mobile Phone [Yanko Design]

If you're familiar with the propensity of the wee ones to draw for hours on end—sometimes in places where they shouldn't—you'll realize how much they'll like something like this. There's about 1500 feet of paper in that roll, enough to be changed twice a week for five years. Pricing or availability was not mentioned.

Children's Paper Chair [Cool Hunter]

Product Page