Pegasus Mobile NoteTaker
Digital Pen to transfer journey handwriting on the computer

The box illustrates at a glance, a typical use of the device, on the airplane. Inside there are all the system components: The sensor of position and writing visualizer (RECEIVER), the electronic pen (TRANSMITTER), the ink cartridge, the USB cable for the connection to the PC, the batteries, the CD with the drivers and the programs of management, a quick guide for the installation of the system.

 

 

To use the Mobile NoteTaker is not necessary the computer. Thanks to the LCD display of the Receiver, we can look at the digital image of our writing, with zoom functions and dynamic panning. Five navigation buttons and five programmable "virtual buttons", are used to control the writing acquisition and digital notes management. The Receiver has an internal memory internal that save all the freehand notes.
 

A characteristic that makes very versatile the Mobile NoteTaker is writing on common paper. We can use all the paper kinds or thin cardboards, even coloured or preprinted (for istance block notes). The paper sheet can have maximum size of A4 (210 mm x 297 mm), but naturally it can be littler. Drawings or photographs are good too and can be used for tracing digitize.

 

INSTALLATION

The first thing to do is to insert the batteries in the Receiver and in the Electronic Pen. The batteries used are AAA for the Receiver and SR41 (silver oxide batteries, commonly used in watchmaking) for the Pen. The insertion of the batteries does not present particular difficulties. Is necessary to be careful to respect the right polarity, as shown in the battery rooms and on the quick guide. The Receiver has a lid that slips off with a light pressure. For the pen unscrew the rear cap and reclose it without forcing too much. After inserting the batteries, push the ink cartridge in the front of the pen, all the way but without forcing. The cartridge is a refill that can be found easily in commerce, to remove it use the extractor mounted on the cap of the pen.
To turn the Receiver on, keep pressed for two second the On/Off button. Same way to turn it off. After setting up the date and the time, the system is ready to work.
Calibration is not necessary. It only serves a common paper sheet, fixed in the grabs of the Receiver. To write is necessary to press the tip of the pen on the sheet, so as activate the pulses transmission. The LCD monochromatic display, supplies an immediate feedback of writing with excellent precision.
To have a precise recognition of the stroke, is important to apply a constant and natural pressure on the sheet. Pressing with strength is useless.
 



HOW IT WORKS

The Electronic Pen transmits pulses to the device of acquisition (Receiver). Thanks to a sophisticated ultrasonic system, the pulses are converted in precise position on the sheet and coded in digital format. This process takes place in realtime, so is possible to write in a natural way, also quickly. The precision of tracing is of 100 dpi, that is 254 points per centimeter, a value very high that guarantees a remarkable fidelity of reproduction of the ink stroke.
The survey system is not affected by the radio interferences and turns out very reliable in any condition of use, even if the sheet comes inclined. The activation of the Pen only takes place when is pressed on the sheet, this guarantees a remarkable autonomy of the batteries. The Receiver also has an energy saving system, that turns it off after a few minutes of inactivity..


WORKING WAYS: MOBILE AND CONNECTED

The Mobile NoteTaker can work without connection to the computer or be attached to the PC through USB interface. In Mobile modality all the functions come managed with the navigation and virtual buttons. To activate a virtual button, press the Pen in the corresponding hole. A red blinking, confirms the selection. All the notes are marked with date and time and memorized with a progressive number. The memory of the device can contain up to 50 pages of writing, that can be shown on the LCD display. The display contrast can be regulated to guarantee an optimum visualization. The navigation and configuration menus are well done and are available in numerous languages.


When one connected to the PC, the Mobile NoteTaker works in Connected modality. The digital notes are downloaded automatically by the Note Manager program and then can be cancelled by the memory of the Receiver. In Connected modality is possible to activate the writing recognition and draw directly on the computer. The program MyScript Notes activates a virtual clipboard that works as a paper sheet on the monitor. All that is written can be saved, modified, and the recognition of writing can be activated from the digitized text. Documents imported in MyScript Notes can can be converted in several formats, among which the Rich Text and the MS Word's native format.
 

Is important to select the correct language for the recognition. This greatly increases the precision because are used algorithms that fit the way of writing and linking the words for the specific language.

 


The Connected mode, also allows to modify the settings of the Receiver and of the virtual keys and to program them, for istance, for the automatic E-mail sending with the handwritten document.
 

INTEGRATION WITH MS OFFICE

An important characteristic of the Mobile NoteTaker is the possibility of writing directly into Microsoft Office documents. After installing the software Annotator, a new tool bar appears in the programs of the Office Suite. To write with the Electronic Pen, click on the button "Ink On" with the mouse. Put the cursor in the zone where we want to write and then write on the paper sheet of Mobile NoteTaker. All the writings are traced in the current document.
The possibility to insert freehand sketches in a Word document, in the e-mail messages of Outlook, in the slides of PowerPoint, make very creative the information exchange. In addition, the Mobile NoteTaker can be integrated in OneNote, the Microsoft application to organize the notes. The versatility of this solution shows the excellent level of integration reached by Pegasus.
Another software included in the installation CD, the Pen2text, allows to transform free handwriting, in MS Word text, using Microsoft's native input system.

 
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION

To use the Mobile NoteTaker connected to the PC, is necessary to install the control software contained in the Pegasus Software Suite disk (blue colour). The installation is automatic, inserting the disk and following the indications. When asked, connect the USB cable of the Receiver to the computer and in few minutes all is ready. In the CD there are the Note Manager, that organizes the notes memorized in the mobile device, the Pen2Text and the software Annotator, that allows to integrate the functions of digital writing, inside of Microsoft Office products.

The second CD (yellow colour) contains the up-to-date version of MyScript Notes, the software for advanced writing and images management. This program converts free hand writing in text documents and also succeeds to recognize the forms and convert them in vectorial graphs.
 

On-line pdf manuals installed on the PC together with the device drivers, are rich of informations and provide a complete guide for all the hardware and software operations.

 

To execute the automatic installation is necessary to have the Windows Autoplay on. Is important NOT connecting the USB cable of the Mobile NoteTaker, before having installed the software. The Windows automatisms, could prevent the correct configuration of the necessary drivers. The cable must be connected when required by the installation program. 


THE COMPANY PEGASUS
Pegasus Technologies Ltd is worldwide leader in the input devices based on free handwriting systems. The technology used in the Mobile NoteTaker, is also used to control computers, PDAs, mobile phones in numerous application fields. All Pegasus products are available both as separate accessories and electronic parts to be integrated in the devices. The computers of the future will have among their peripherals, a system to recognize the stroke and the writing. Pegasus research go ahead in this direction.
Writing tracking technology, can be used in any Windows application, thanks to developer's toolkit made available on Pegasus web site.
The direct link is: http://www.pegatech.com/Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=64&CategoryID=88


CONCLUSIONS

The ideas, the sketches, the drafts, the notes are born and will be born for a long time on paper. Mobile NoteTaker is a device not to give up the pleasure of free hand writing, wherever we are, without losing the advantages of the digital elaboration.
In the following some useful links:

Pegasus Homepage:
http://www.pegatech.com/

Direct link for Mobile NoteTaker:
http://www.pegatech.com/Articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=81&CategoryID=98

Technical support, software updatings and documents:
http://www.pegatech.com/TechSupport/TechSupport.asp?CategoryID=11

Write us if you want a complete test of your products, with images, graphics, research and deepenings. On request we realize user manuals (also in italian), conferences and multimedia presentations.