Canson PaperShow Kit

When it comes to the traditional computer interface, so far nothing has been able to replace the keyboard and mouse. Once in a while, however, an alternative interface device comes along that makes specific tasks much easier. Canson's $199 PaperShow kit is one such device. Nonetheless, make sure you are comfortable with setting up Bluetooth devices and are aware of the ongoing costs for special paper before purchasing.

The kit includes a battery-operated Bluetooth pen, a USB Bluetooth key, and special PaperShow papers. The pen and the paper themselves work just like any normal pen and paper, however, once the pen is connected to the USB Bluetooth key, everything you write on the paper will also appear as a digital version on the computer screen.

You can also erase what you just wrote--as you would using drawing tool software like Paint--or save the digital version as a PowerPoint file. Additionally, you can open an existing PowerPoint presentation and use the pen and paper to edit it.

The process of setting up the device was simple. Just plug the USB Bluetooth key into the computer's USB port and its self-contained software should automatically launch to set up both software and drivers. The key then looks for the Bluetooth pen, and the two will pair themselves together.

Unfortunately, we did run into a few hiccups during this setup process on our Windows XP SP3-based testbed. The key and the pen didn't pair successfully at first. As it turned out, we needed to disable any existing Bluetooth adapter connected to the computer and make sure that the Bluetooth service is run by the local Windows account. The folks at Canson, however, told us that only computers with certain specifications would run into this problem. Nonetheless, we wish the setup had gone smoother. Once we got through the hiccups and set up the device, the kit worked as expected.

Each sheet of the PaperShow paper has an area where you can tap the pen to change the colors, shape, and boldness of what will appear on the screen. The kit contains one A4-size notebook--supposedly for brainstorming sessions--and 30 sheets of separate paper for presentations.