NeoLab’s N2 smartpen debuts in bid to fuse paper and digital writing

NeoLab Convergence is launching its Neo smartpen N2 today as part of a quest to marry paper and digital writing.

The South Korean company created the N2 after it raised $359,112 in a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that ended in October. Now the company is starting to ship its N2 smartpen in the U.S. to fulfill the preorders from that campaign.

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The Neo smartpen N2 instantly stores handwritten note and drawings, enabling a seamless transition from paper to digital. As you write, the N2 will automatically activate. It recognizes what you are writing and it makes the etchings appear on the screen of your iOS or Android. You can store notes or convert them into digital text in 15 languages.

It comes with the Neo Note app, which allows users to organize, share, and upload their content to third-party apps such as Evernote, Dropbox, and Illustrator. It works with NeoLab’s patented notepaper, and it was designed as an alternative to existing smartpens such as the Livescribe smartpen. You can tap a page in the notebook to email notes to friends. Pressure recognition automatically turns the pen on or off. And you can organize and sort notes by notebook, tag, or calendar. The device can record and play back audio in the NeoNotes app.

The $170 pen comes in black or white. You can refill it with the D1 ink available in stationery stores.

In its Kickstarter campaign, the N2 attracted more than 2,000 backers and sold more than 2,500 pens, making it a top three tech product on Kickstarter.

“We are inspired by the stories of a wide range of users all over the world, from marketers to entrepreneurs to artists. We designed the N2 to bridge the gap between analog and digital in the era of the Internet of Things,” said Eddie Lee, cofounder and chief technology officer CTO at NeoLab Convergence. “We believe that the possibilities of a pen and paper are huge, and with the N2, the opportunities with pen and paper are unlimited.”