While the jaja doesn’t have the ultra-precise pointing capability of the recently announced iPen, it does do one thing that artists have dreamed they could do on their tablets – detect stroke pressure. Two buttons on the stylus also can be used to switch colors, erase, or other custom functions.

Created by Jon Atherton of Silicon Spark, the jaja stylus works its magic using a clever, but simple sounding trick. As you press down, high frequency sounds are emitted by the pen. The variable frequency sound – undetectable by human ears – is picked up by the tablet’s microphone, and converted into pressure information. By building this trick into the pen itself, it requires no add-ons, and the pressure conversion can be handled by algorithms in the software. It even means it’ll work with any tablet with a microphone with the proper app installed, of course.

I like how he calls it a “Zsa Zsa”. I think I’ll call it that instead.

My only concern about the concept is what if any impact background noises (like flying on an airplane or taking a train) might have on the technology, and if multiple people in the same room could even use jaja pens without causing interference. I’m also not thrilled with the design of the pen itself, as it uses one of those cumbersome clear disc tips at the end. This lets you see exactly where you’re drawing, but doesn’t exactly feel like a normal pen based on my experience with other styli built the same way. Still, the pressure sensitivity – if it works well – is more than worth the price of admission.

If you’re interested in trying out the jaja stylus for yourself, head on over to Kickstarter and pledge now. The first 500 people can get a single jaja for just $40 (retail price will be $69). The project is looking to raise $25,000 total by February 7th, and is already about 1/3rd of the way there as of this writing. They expect to ship their first batch sometime this April. Atherton also plans on releasing an SDK to development partners so more apps can leverage the technology.

I’m hoping they’ll someday get together with the iPen guys and join forces to create a single stylus which can draw with precision AND is pressure sensitive. That would be the holy grail for tablet-bound artists. There’s no techincal reason I can think of that the two ideas couldn’t be combined.

Developed by Cregle Inc., the iPen’s secret ingredient isn’t in the stylus itself, but in its complementary receiver, which uses both infrared and ultrasonic signals to detect the location of the stylus, instead of the iPad’s capacitive touch sensors. This provides a far more accurate drawing experience than any other iPad stylus to date. The receiver can track the stylus even when it’s just hovering above the iPad. It also has palm rejection, i.e. you can rest your palm on the iPad knowing that it won’t cause accidental input.

The Kickstarter fundraiser for the iPen ends today and will end on a very successful note, gathering more than four times its target amount. So if you manage to pledge at least $79 (USD) today it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll be one of the first to own an iPen.

[via Gizmodo]

If the LunaTik name sounds familiar, it’s because the man who designed this concept is Scott Wilson, the same Scott Wilson behind the LunaTik (and TikTok) watch bands for the iPod Nano. The same Scott Wilson who loves to use the letter ‘k’ instead of the letter ‘c’.

Tap on your tablet and head to Kickstarter to support the development of the concept. If you pledge at least $30(USD), you’ll be one of the first to own not one, not two – oh wait actually yes two LunaTik Touch Pens (the plastic model) – or for the same price you can have one of the anodized aluminum version. Wilson and his company MINIMAL launched their fundraiser just a couple of weeks ago but they’ve already exceeded their $75,000 (USD) target fund, so you can rest assured that your money is in good hands.

[via Co. Design]

Marvel Digital’s Soft Rubber Tip Stylus Pocket Pen doubles as a both a capacitive stylus and a pen, which is handy because when you’re not using it with your tablet or smartphone, you can write stuff on paper with it.

The main problem I’ve had with styluses is that they don’t allow you to use multi-touch gestures, which can be annoying. The capacitive ones are also not that precise either. Still, if you have use for a one, the pen/stylus combo sells for $10(USD) from Marvel Digital.

In its default state, you’ll find the conductive tip at one end and the laser pointer on the other end near the clip. Simply pop off the stylus half to reveal the refillable pen. Here’s an unboxing of the product by Jordan Klekot:

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You can order the Stylus + Pen + Laser Pointer directly from Griffin for $50 (USD). I’m waiting for this multifunctional pen trend to escalate until Brando comes out with one that also has a mouse, keyboard, trackpad, joystick and gamepad. And a bottle opener. And chopsticks. Because Brando.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

The entire black border around the Big Big Cursors is made of conductive foam, i.e. the thing that makes the stylus work with capacitive touchscreens, so you don’t have to “point” them on the touchscreen the normal way like you would on a desktop computer. Don’t be fooled by their comically large size too, because as the video below proves, they can be used to click, draw and point precisely.

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The only thing I don’t buy in the vid is the dirt-free part. Sure, if you use a stylus all the time your device won’t get fingerprints, but if you use your hand to pick up food you can bet some of that will still find its way on the screen even if you use a stylus. You can order the Big Big Arrow and Big Big Pointer for $13 (USD) each at the Big Big Cursor website. Mike should also release a Big Big Hourglass and a Big Big Ball of Death.

[via Oh Gizmo!]

Ten One Design has just released a new stylus that will work with the iPad and other capacitive screen devices called the Pogo Sketch Pro. This capacitive stylus looks like a paintbrush with a larger rubberized barrel grip that tapers at the end of its aluminum handle. The tips are also replaceable for a long life.

The design of the stylus allows the artist to be accurate and make lines at different angles. I also like that this is the size of a normal paint brush rather than the short and more difficult to handle styluses I have used in the past. The Pogo Sketch Pro is available now, and sells for $24.95 (USD).

You can order the Monteverde Stylus Ballpoint Pen from Colorado Pen Direct for $30 (USD). Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a demo video showing how effective it is on a touchscreen. I do have a cheaper alternative though: stick a sausage on top of your pen. You’re welcome.

This long nose is a contraption held on the face with elastic straps that go over the nose. The tip has a stylus that you can actually use and control a touchscreen device with. It looks like it would be hard to breathe when wearing the device. The designer does a good job of showing how and when you could use the thing.

It’s theoretically useful when you only have one hand to work the screen with. Still, it makes you look like a total weirdo. The designer is Dominic Wilcox, and you can check out the link to his work below. I think it might actually sell in Japan though; they love their weird gadgets in Japan.

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[via Variations on Normal]

Using a material they call “Electronic Liquid Powder” inside their screens, these displays consume very little power, and Bridgestone says they’re almost as sharp as reading actual paper. That said, at a resolution of 800 x 600 for the 13.1″ version, the pixels will actually be quite large – somewhere around 75dpi.

The AeroBee screens can display up to 4096 colors (using filter layers), and offer the ability to instantaneously change state using a stylus input. While a full screen refresh takes 1.3 seconds, but drawing on screen is basically instantaneous. This makes them especially conducive for use for note-taking, schoolwork and sketching.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Bridgestone is currently showing off a 13.1″ diagonal (A4) version of the screen, but is also working on a giant-size 21″ (A3) version as well. The AeroBee is being OEM’d and runs on Linux, so it should be fairly easy for device makers to take advantage of the platform. They also say the screens can be made to be flexible, so maybe someday we’ll finally get that rollable electronic newspaper we’ve been waiting for all these years.

[via DigInfo.TV and Akihabara News]

The Flow looks and feels just like a real paintbrush, but has special bristles which can “paint” on the screen of your iPad, Xoom or other touchscreen tablet or smartphone. I can see this working really well with applications like Autodesk’s Sketchbook Pro or ArtRage for iPad.

Check out The Flow in action in the video below:

Looks pretty awesome to me, although I wish that our touchscreens could sense pressure and angle like a Wacom tablet can. Still, this is a step in the right direction for artists on the go, or just hobbyists who want to paint with something other than their fingertips.

The Flow brush you see above is still just a prototype, but if they can raise sufficient funding through Kickstarter, you can help get these into production. A basic aluminum brush will sell for $30 (USD), but you can get one for a $20 pledge. They’ve also got a limited-edition gold version just for Kickstarter contributors for $30, and various other bundles for larger contributions.

The DAGi Pen still has a wider than normal tip, but it’s made out of a see-through material with a red dot indicating exactly where you’re pressing the pen on screen. That fixes one of the biggest issues with the other styli out there, which are usually so fat that they obscure the location that you’re touching.

Now, I’m not sure if the wide, flat tip of the DAGi Pen will be any less odd than the Pogo, but it’s probably worth a shot for now. I’m hoping that someday someone comes up with a fine-tip stylus for capacitive screens, but I’m guessing that physics are standing in the way of that achievement at the moment.

For now, the DAGi Pen looks like one of the better options out there.

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You can get your hands on DAGi Pens over at PDA Plaza for $20 Canadian (appx. $19 USD).

The compact box is about the size of a small calculator, and features an LCD screen onto which you can take notes using a stylus. It’s also got a few handy features like an alarm clock and a calculator, so it can replace those items as well. The battery-powered device can hold up to 99 handwritten notes – although it doesn’t have static memory, so get ready to lose all your data when you run out of juice.

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Sure, you can do all of the same things with your computer, smartphone or tablet, (or pen and paper) but this is an interestinge single-purpose alternative, and could be good for non-technical users as well.

Normally available only in Japan, the guys over at Japan Trend Shop have been kind enough to ship them worldwide. Unfortunately, the exported version is quite pricey, selling for $98 (USD), plus another $26 for shipping. On second thought, maybe I will stick to Post-it notes. I could buy a lifetime supply for that much.

You can really imagine all of the cool drawing programs you could create if you could detect the pressure applied with a stylus, and the guys at Ten One Design have figured out a way to do this, even though it’s not officially supported by Apple.

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And therein lies the rub… Since they had to build a private function call to make this work, it’s not something they can make available in the App Store. Ten One hopes Apple will see what they’ve done and roll the capability into the UIKit framework, but for now we’ll just have to admire their programming prowess from afar.

Apple, please check out what Ten One has achieved, and roll it into UIKit so we can all enjoy it! Thanks.

Here’s a video of two – two! – sausages working perfectly on the iPhone:

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According to Korean news site inews24 (Google translated), the sausage has proven so effective as a stylus that CJ Corporation, makers of the preferred snack sausage, saw a 39% increase in their December to January sales.

[via TUAW and Kottke]

The officially licensed lightsabers are perfect for playing games on your DS, especially for a round of Lego Star Wars (or maybe you can just save them until The Force Unleashed hits this September). While they’re too big to fit into your DS’ stylus slot, it’s a small price to pay to have the coolest stylus on the block.

You can pick up a 3-pack of the standard ones for $7.99, but you really should drop the $16.99 on a pair of the ones that actually light up thanks to LED blades. Sweet.

[via View From Heaven via GoNintendo]

Just like its portable inspiration, the Jumbotron DS has dual screens, with stylus-based control on the bottom one. However, these screens measure in at about 15-inches each, compared to the tiny 3-inch screens on the standard DS.

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To make it all work, Loopy used an FPGA to translate the input from the tablet PC back into data usable by the DS. While it all looks a bit like something out of Dr. Frankenstein’s (or Dexter’s) laboratory, I still think it’s a pretty clever hack.

Now if only I could figure out how to fit the damned thing in my pocket.

[via Kotaku]

The Official Nintendo DS Pencil Stylus really does look like a pencil, but has a soft tip that protects your DS screen from any scratches. They’re imported from Japan, so they’re a little pricey at about $10 each (although with a little shopping around you can find ‘em for as little as $8 each.)