Fly (pentop computer)

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A typical Fly pen with a Batman Begins game cartridge

Fly is a "pentop computer", which is a type of pen with a computer inside. It is manufactured by Leapfrog Enterprises Inc.

The pen uses digital paper and pattern decoding technology developed by Anoto to track where the user writes on the page. It uses character recognition technology to read what's been written, and can speak back nearly any word in U.S. English.

To start the main menu of the base pen, the user writes "M" and circles it. After recognizing the circled "M", the pen switches to "menu mode." There are several different circle-letter codes for activating different applications. For example, writing a "c" inside a circle activates calculator mode.

Once an application is activated, the user uses the pen to draw on the paper to interact with the application. In the case of the calculator, the user draws the calculator on a piece of Leapfrog's own digital paper and then interacts with the calculator. The user can then tap the individual "buttons" of the drawn calculator. The pen itself uses a spoken voice to speak out what is being tapped, and announce what the answer is. For example, after drawing the calculator, the user can tap "1", "4", "x", "5", and "=" in order. The pen's speaker would then say "one, four, times, five, equals seventy."

1 Features
2 Games
3 History
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Features

The pen includes many features other than the ones described above. An example of one of these features is a removable top that allows the user to put several different colored plastic plates over the power button. The writing pen itself is retractable and comes in and out with the flip of a switch located on the top of the pen. At the tip of the pen there is a place to put game or application cartridges to enable even more features.

According to the product websites, the pen is targeted at middle school students, providing help in subjects such as:

Algebra- helping a student by explaining step by step instructions so they can understand what they are writing.
Writing- reading as a student writes, explaining what they did wrong and telling them how it should be written.
Notes- helping a student understand what they wrote previously in class.

The fly pen comes with different types of paper for each subject a student may need help in.

Applications available for the Fly pen include a Spanish language translator, a spelling activity cartridge, and a personal journal.

[edit] Games

Games for the Fly pen are sold separately. Included is the game pad and cartridge. Each game has a particular game play pad. Gameplay begins with the user moving the pen along the game pad. Available games include Batman Begins, A "Flyball" baseball game, and a musical game.

[edit] History

Fly was invented by Jim Marggraff while he was at LeapFrog. Jim is now CEO of Anoto, Inc. in Oakland, California, where he and his team are developing the next generation pentop computer for use by college students and adults.