Iris USOA400 IRISPen Express 6 Pen Scanner

The Iris USOA400 IRISPen Express 6 Pen Scanner is a portable, hand-held scanner that works just like a highlighter. You simply slide the scanner over virtually any printed text, and the text is automatically scanned directly into your computer. Ideal for remote research projects or any task in which a flatbed scanner would prove too cumbersome, this pen-sized scanner operates at a rate of over three inches per second and recognizes 128 languages.

The Iris USOA400 IRISPen Express 6 Pen Scanner offers: Small size for easy portability. Automatic conversion of text on paper into editable text on the screen. Recognition of 128 languages. PC and Mac compatibility.

The pen-sized scanner scans at a rate of over three inches per second. View larger.

Fast Scanning and High Accuracy
The IRISPen Express 6 includes Optical Character Recognition software, or OCR, that is up to 100% accurate with 128 languages. Whether you're scanning print from a newspaper in New York, Istanbul or Ljubljana, this scanner will provide you with highly accurate results. It can even read wavy and distorted images, as well as colored text and numbers, and text on colored backgrounds.

If you have special text needs, don't worry. The IRISPen can recognize alphanumeric characters, numeric data, special characters, mathematical symbols, currency symbols, and much more. The IRISPen also reads virtually any font, in a wide variety of styles and point sizes (from 8 to 20 points), as well as formatting elements, such as vertical lines, separating table cells. The scanner can even scan logos, signatures, and other small graphics.

While the speed will vary according to usage, the IRISPen can scan up to 3.15 inches per second. You simply slide the "pen" tip across your text, just as you would a highlighter, and the text is scanned directly into the application of your choice.

Wide Software and Hardware Compatibility
The IRISPen doesn't care if you're a Mac or PC user. It's compatible with practically any platform you use. The pen connects directly into the USB port of a PC, notebook, Tablet PC or Macintosh computer. Powered by the USB port of your computer, the IRISPen doesn't need an external power supply and features an "idle" mode to save energy when it's not in use.

Use the IRISPen just like a highlighter and the text appear right on your computer screen.

The scanner software is easily configured. You can assign key board shortcuts and follow the intuitive smart wizard for the quickest and easiest way of defining your settings. It proposes a series of templates with pre-defined settings means for the reading of certain types of data: text, text from columns, numeric tables, etc. These templates can be either used as such, or modified to fit more particular needs.

Once connected, your options for the destination of your scanning is virtually unlimited. You can scan your text directly into Microsoft Excel or Word, into text files, emails--you name it. If you can type in it, the IRISPen will let you scan into it.

Scanning Everything From Albanian to Zulu
Amazingly, the IRISPen recognizes 128 different languages. All American and European languages are supported, including Central-European languages. Greek, Turkish, the Cyrillic ("Russian") and the Baltic languages and Hebrew are also supported. Optionally, the IRISPen reads Asian documents in Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean.

You can activate a mixed alphabet of Greek or Cyrillic and Western characters. This is useful if Western words pop up in Greek of Cyrillic texts (this is often the case with proper name, brand names, etc.). The IRISPen will automatically switch languages whenever needed.

What's in the Box
IRISPen Express 6 pen scanner, CD-ROM, quick installation guide, register card, user's manual, test sheet, and calibration sheet.

Customer Review: works fairly well
This product is not perfect by any means but it does scan single lines of text fairly well with some practice. I called Customer Service and I was on hold for 30 min. I chose to leave a message with my name and number and i am yet to hear from them.
Customer Review: Disappointed
My Irispen Express 6 was a wonderful tool that worked great for a short while. My first one lasted one week before it quit. My second worked great for three weeks before it quit. In both cases the green light failed to come on. I am giving up on this product.

Has this ever happened to you? You haven't been to a website in a few weeks and you just can't remember the password and now you have to go back through your email and fish it out. Or, do you do this major no no of security? Use the same username and password for every website and application you can.

It's time you tried a password storing finger print reader. Basically all consumer finger print readers work the same; you install the software and connect the fingerprint device. You then install the fingerprint reader into an available USB port, scan your finger (usually the right index finger), and now as you surf the web the software will ask you if you want to store the user id and password associated with that site.

Now the fun part, once you visit that site again in the future all you need to do is place your finger on the reader and it fills in those pesky user id and password fields for you. No need to ever forget or use the same password again.

So how does this all work?

Before we start it's good to know that this technology exists because we all have our own uniquely identifiable piece of information, our finger prints. While our forerunners did not develop this adaptation for password protection, more for gripping and holding, it's a nice side effect. Since each set of fingerprints in developed in its own way through thousands if not millions of environmental factors there is almost no chance that anyone has, has ever had or will ever had the same fingerprint as you; even if you are an identical twin.

So now the fingerprint reader just has to scan your finger and make sure all the ridges match, sounds easy right? Well, it does take a quite of bit of technology to actually make it work. First the scanner uses either an optical or capacitance scanner to take a "picture" of your finger using either light or electricity respectably.

They then "read" if what it's looking at is a ridge or valley and uses your computers processing power to compare the captured fingerprint with the fingerprints on file, from setup, in your system. They do this by using very complex algorithms and focusing in on the very fine parts of your actual fingerprint and comparing specific features called minutiae.

The scanner doesn't take your whole fingerprint into account when making a match; it just has to find some parts that match both the minutiae and the record of your print on file. Once the threshold of matches is reached voila you have access to that password protected page you wanted and you didn't even have to think about it.

Donald has an interest in the use of a fingerprint reader along with the use of a fingerprint keyboard to better protect your personal information.

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