Vincent van Beveren schrijft: "ZDNet komt met het nieuws dat Mac OS X een digitale pen krijgt waar je de Mac mee kunt besturen. Blijkbaar kun je allerlei dingen er mee doen zoals gewoon teksten schrijven, maar ook surfen en diverse andere dingen zonder veel te hoeven oefenen. Weer eens wat anders dan spraak herkenning":
Is the pen mightier than the keyboard? Mac users may soon be drawing that conclusion, thanks to forthcoming pen-input software from Apple Computer Inc.
Dubbed InkWell and currently in pre-release testing under the code name Rosetta Stone, the software reportedly taps into the handwriting-recognition technology that Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) originally developed for its discontinued Newton line of PDAs.
Besides interpreting users' hand-printed text, sources said, InkWell will enable them to perform a variety of operations -- from opening and closing files to surfing the Web -- via pen input with virtually no practice.
According to sources, InkWell will ship alongside Mac OS X, which is currently due to arrive early in 2001; a version may also be available to users of Mac OS 9.
Apple is reportedly working closely with Wacom Inc. to ensure InkWell's compatibility with the tablet maker's line of pressure-sensitive input devices.
In addition, sources said Apple is considering adding pen-input support to the trackpad of Mercury, the company's next-generation PowerBook G4.
"The idea is to eliminate the need for a keyboard," said one source familiar with Apple's plans.
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