DocuPen Scanner Is Smart Release

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones.

The new PlanOn DocuPen portable scanner is exactly what it says. It's a little bigger than the pen at your workstation or desk and you basically hold it sideways and run it down a page. It'll scan into the unit in about four seconds.

The pen has a 8MB flash memory on board to store documents and a USB interface to quickly load into your computer.

What can I say? The thing works, even with pictures. Great device (Ranking 4 out of 4 stars).

NOTES

-- Computer-maker Alienware is now featuring 4x Blu-ray Disc drives in all desktops. Alienware's Area-51 7500, Aurora 7500, Area-51 ALX and Aurora ALX desktops are the industry's first and only systems to offer 4x Blu-ray Disc drives, which provide up to a 100 percent read/write performance increase over standard 2x Blu-ray Disc drives.

-- Nuance Communications and Jingle Networks have a long-term agreement to enhance the consumer experience for 1-800-FREE411 callers. Directory Assistance calls are up as much as $3.50 per call. It's nice to get information for free, right?

-- Guitar Hero fans can get an exclusive sample of the upcoming "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" video game demo with the launch of "Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground,' slated to ship to stores on October 9. Players who purchase Tony Hawk for the Xbox 360 get an exclusive two week head start on experiencing the demo.

-- Sony is ready to deploy a new Eye Toy peripheral for the PlayStation 3 that it claims has more motion-sensing potential than the Nintendo Wii. The EyeToy would serve the same function as the motion bar that sits atop the TV during Wii play.

-- 2K Sports will be release "Top Spin Tennis" for the Wii next spring. The company claims "Top Spin Tennis features fun, flawless tennis action and the most real life tennis experience to date for the Wii."