Just last month, Samsung announced it had sold over 5 million Galaxy Notes in the 5 months since launch. With such a successful launch and the introduction of a stylus based tablet, Galaxy Note 10.1, it must be questioned whether the stylus is back in the hands of people for good or just a fad. At Gadget Show Live today I got the opportunity to try the Galaxy Note and I have nothing but good things to say about it, except the size, but that is beside the point. The stylus or Samsung branded “S-pen” is a great  piece of technology.

The S-pen branding is also a brilliant idea from Samsung. The word stylus seems to carry a negative connotation that reminds everyone of the dark days of Windows Mobile and Palm Pilots. The S-pen is also leaps and bounds better than the average consumer stylus. Some of the extra features include pressure sensitivity and the functionality of a button. With a surge in drawing and note taking apps I think that we will also see an huge bump in the number of styli and stylus manufacturers.

One way that new companies are bursting into the space is through the crowd-funding website Kickstarter, which I have talked about before. Since March 2011 there have been 16 total stylus projects posted, 11 of which have been successful. These styli usually try to stray from the typical short metal pen shaped body with a rubber bulb norm. Some examples of this are the:

Cosmonaut, a large rubber stylus that mimics the comfortable shape of a dry-erase marker that feels and looks very childish. The creators really push the minimalist design and ease of use saying you can even use the Cosmonaut with gloves.

The LunaTik Touch Pen is another product from the great minds over at Scott Wilson’s design firm Minimal. Minimal already has had lots of success with their TikTok and LunaTik iPod Nano Watchbands. Scott Wilson states in their Kickstarter video that, “a tool will be needed to fit this analog-digital hybrid work flow” The LunaTik Touch Pen tries to solve this problem by including a ballpoint pen in the center of the stylus that is accessed by the click of a button. Check out my preview for a more detailed look here.

The Estylo 1.1 aims to be the “pencil of the future”. With its wooden design, pencil like feel, and vibrant colors the Estylo looked like a promising stylus. As consumers started receiving their styli, just a few days ago, they have started to realize that the Estylo would not always be recognized my their capacitive displays. A stylus that has a learning curve is not acceptable, a stylus should make your experience easier, not more difficult.

Lastly, the Jot and Jot Pro by Adonit took a whole different look at the common stylus. Instead of touching the screen at a rubber nib, the Jot and Jot Pro make contact with the screen via a clear plastic disk that contains metal. This helps you to see exactly where you are going to be writing and since the disk is on a ball point you can write an multiple angles. The Jot Pro ($30/ £26) has a rubber grip and magnetically attaches to your iPad 2 unlike the Jot ($20/ £21).

It is very clear that the stylus is making a comeback, whether it is bundled with the product (Galaxy Note) or not (iPad 2). If we keep seeing such innovation in stylus technology and design we may see the stylus become a big part of the mobile experience with both handsets and tablets.

Tomorrow, the Digilounge crew will be heading to Gadget Show Live Press Day in Birmingham. This year there are roughly 275 exhibitors at the show ranging from Soul headphones by Ludacris, to Alienware, to Fitbit, to Volkswagon. The full exhibitor list can be found here.

We will be sure to take plenty of pictures and video of all of the exciting gadgets that are on display. If there is anything specific that you would like to have us check out just mention @DigiloungeUK in a tweet and we will do our best to cover it.

For live tweeting from the floor, be sure to follow @JM_Stewart and @Chriscooper45 so you can see updates as they happen.

Today, Apple unveiled a sneak peek video of OSX Mountain Lion which is coming later this summer. The video, found here, goes over 9 of the new features that will be found in the OS update. Some of the more interesting additions include, Messages, Notes, and Reminders, which are all desktop versions of their mobile counter parts. With Mountain Lion we are seeing a lot more of our favorite features of iOS make their way to our laptops and desktops, including an all new Growl-style notifications system.

Apple has released a preview to devs and we can except to see a retail version this summer, most likely with a new version of the Macbook Pro which might include a higher resolution screen.

This week I would like to start a weekly article about a product on Kickstarter than catches my eye or is just plain interesting. If you would like to suggest a Kickstarter Project for next weeks or any weeks Kickstarter Highlight just tweet me your idea. @JM_Stewart

Kickstarter hall of famer, Scott Wilson and his MINIMAL design team are at it again. Imaging a new product to make your life simpler. Incase you have not heard of Scott and his team, they are the inventors that created the TikTok and LunaTik iPod Nano watch straps that debuted on the social fund-raising site, Kickstarter.

Scott and his teams new project is a capacitive screen stylus with a hidden feature, being that it is also a click pen. With the headline Paper + Pixels we see that the Lunatik Touch Pen transitions from screens to paper seamlessly. Scott, in his Kickstarter video found here, says that this is necessary as more people adopt iPads and tablets, a tool will be needed to fit this analog-digital hybrid work flow. Clearly all the guys over at MINIMAL are very good at meshing the analog and digital worlds into a combination that is more productive than the sum of its parts.

At the time this article was written the LunaTik Pen has surpassed its goal of $75,000 with $259,750 of funding. The LunaTik Pen still has 67 hours of funding to go and if you would like to Kickstart then, check them out at Lunatik Touch Pen.

Recent FCC filings picked up by AndroidPolice show a new product from Jawbone that seems to be a larger version of the Jambox. The Jambox, already a great product would be roughly double the dimensions of the current Jambox. Hopefully there will be a larger battery to improve on the already stellar 10-hours the current Jambox gets.
Jawbone has made a big push out of the headset market, expanding into the lifestyle side of the tech world. Hopefully as they move into more and more market they can improve our daily lives.

Reports have shown that Microsoft are planning on creating an iPad version of their Microsoft Office software suite!

This will be the first time that Microsoft have released any Office programs for Apples tablet, and could be quite a smart move considering the market share that the iPad has. iPad only news site The Daily got the exlusive which reveals that the iPad version could be coming sometime next year, just before a updated version of Office arrives for OS X Lion!

Apple does already have its own suite of productivity software, in the form of iWork, but that hasn’t stopped Office being one of Microsoft’s biggest sellers! It has also been expected that since Microsoft have been expanding their Office 365 and Skydrive services over the past few months that these will be incorporated into the iPad apps offering full cloud services!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TM9MybLmhk

For day 4, I try something new. You get to follow me around for the whole day, from my first lecture to the evening when I return home and head out the rowing club table quiz. I hope you guys can enjoy the vlog and if you have any question, queries or just want to say “Sup,” feel free to comment down below or Tweet me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wusIkGaPNjI

My plan has finally been put into action. I have officially started to vlog at college. In the vlog above I’m talking about my upcoming geography test,CSI Miami, the future of these videos and most of all the view out of my window! If you guys want to see anything in particular, hear about certain things or just want to say “Hi” please comment bellow or tweet me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao8UW0-_JSk

Hello and welcome! I have decided to start something new. I’m going to be vlogging my whole college life for the next 3 years or the duration of my course. I’m extremely excited about this and honestly cannot wait to see the feedback I get off you guys.

What I Get:

• A time capsule
• Friends
• A new experience

So I hope you guys can come along on a journey with me. Experience something new and support me. If you have any more questions please leave them down bellow or ask them on Twitter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa-PgMDLwoM

Showdown Time! That’s right. Today I have a video comparing the Zoom H1 Handy Portable Microphone with the Blue Snowball USB Condenser Microphone.

Zoom H1:

This a Handy Portable Microphone that can be purchased from most retail audio stores or online (Amazon) for a retail price of around $99. It is powered on a single AAA Battery and has an XY Stereo Microphone design. It recorded directly onto a MicroSD Card in either .WAV or .MP3

Blue Snowball:

This a USB Condensor Microphone, originally designed for podcasting and targeting the lower consumer at its nice retail price of $60. It has 3 different settings for audio. It has a Plug & Play design, or should I say Plug & Record. It compatible with most PC’s and Macs.

Basically I talk throughout the video, while changing between microphones. I hope you guys enjoy and if you have any questions please feel free to comment bellow, on the video or on Twitter.