Ingram Micro inks smartpen distie deal

Officeworks signs on as first retail partner.

US vendor Livescribe has appointed Ingram Micro as its local master distributor for its range of Pulse smartpens and accessories.

The pens capture handwriting and can simultaneously record audio and synchronise it to the writing, the vendor said.

The agreement will see Ingram address the consumer electronics retail and reseller channels, with sub-disties working through Ingram pursuing the education and B2B channel markets.

Officeworks was understood to be the first major retail channel to carry the products with "other major retailers" said to be joining soon.

Livescribe said in a statement that the partnership "will greatly expand the availability of Pulse smartpens and accessories to consumers throughout Australia."

Ingram Micro's senior director of volume business unit & consumer Matt Sanderson saw "strong growth potential" for the products.

"Livescribe's smartpens are an innovative and exciting new technology, which we believe will be enthusiastically received by consumers," Sanderson said.

"We're anticipating strong demand from our retail partners in particular."

The 2GB Pulse smartpen costs $299 and provides storage for over 200 hours of recorded audio, the company said.

Other products available will include Livescribe dot paper and accessories such as a leather case, and packs of notebooks and ink cartridges.