Livescribe Echo Smartpen (With Livescribe Connect)

Nestled inside the tip of the Echo pen is a high-speed, infrared camera that captures 70 frames per second. This camera captures anything you write, as long as it's on the specially imprinted, not-quite-white notepaper the company supplies.

Despite being a bit slimmer than the Pulse, the 0.5 by 6.2 by 0.8 inch Echo is still a bit unwieldy. The rubberized tip helps your grip, but the 1.3-ounce pen feels more like a big magic marker than a pen.

There's a single-line OLED screen that shows the time and lets you navigate the pen's menu options, but other than that, all you'll see is a micro-USB port and a Power button.

The Livescribe Echo is a high-tech bridge between analog, handwritten notes and the digital world. Though using its features, and even just handling the hefty pen, can take some getting used to, this is a writing instrument any gadget geek will love.

Want to find out what the professor was saying when you were taking your notes? just tap a spot on the paper and click Play, and you'll hear exactly what he was saying as you wrote in that spot.