While I was still going on about new ways of bringing a pen-like experience to the Tablet PC, I almost missed the news on a device called the “NoteSlate”. This nifty lil’ fella pretends to be an old fashioned doodle pad. Well, on steroids that is! This touchable slate is rumoured to be sporting a 750×1080 “E ink” screen with a 13-inch diameter, which puts pretty much every other EReader or Tablet PC to shame. The same goes for the battery life: 180 hours!

The device runs an open-source software that will support MP3 playback, drawing, handwriting recognition and PDF and text viewing.

The NoteSlate is supposedly coming out in June, in a classic white background, black foreground version AND the reverse as well, both with a price only $99(!). Also up for grabs will be a “4 colour edition”, probably with a much steeper price tag than the B&W version.

Alternative for those who can’t wait

If you really can’t wait until then device comes out, there is another option: the “Boogie Board” from Improv Electronics. With no connection back to the computer, this paperless LCD writing tablet offers up to 50,000 erase cycles, before you can trash it along with your new years resolutions from last December.

The good: you can draw on it with anything that applies pressure and it comes in 6 colours and with an affordable price tag of only $30.

Then again, you could just stick with your old chalkboard until the NoteSlate becomes available.