Afaya-Pen
© 2006 Afaya Technologies
Like Leapfrog's FLY Pentop Computer, the Afaya-Pen uses a barely visible printed grid on paper, made with standard CMYK printing, so that it can calculate where it is on the page. Unlike FLY, there is no writing tip and, therefore, no text-to-speech features. So think of this device as an untethered stylus, for use with custom-prepared printed material. Point the pen tip to any word or picture to hear it read aloud; this can include maps, wall charts, flash cards, stickers, and any other media that has licensed the Afaya technology. I [WB] tried the pen briefly on both books and demo wall charts during the 2006 Bologna Children's Book Fair, and found it to be rather chunky feeling (it weighs 50 grams, without the two AAA batteries), but responsive. In other words, the pen is able to deliver audio nearly instantaneously, when the tip hits the paper. So it has potential. Afaya, a Taiwan-based company is working to form allegiances with US and EU publishers to get their dotted paper into books (publishers, visit the Afaya site for details). A key strategic advantage is the devices use of standardized components. Besides the onboard earbud jack and USB port, the pen uses off-the-shelf batteries and SD RAM-- up to 1GB in size. The pen comes in two formats. The A-100S ($90), comes with MP3 capability and a backlit screen, and the less fancy A-101S($70 comes in different colors for mass student use.
$7090, Smart Toy
Teaches: reading, language, geography, all school subjects