Thanko's new slick and slim Video Camera Spy Pen

Thanko lights the day up again. Its latest gadget - Video Camera Spy Pen literally gives me persecution mania. The slim and stylish pen contains equipment with which even Mr. Bond would be complexly satisfied. All what we knew about previous Thanko devices is embodied in the Video Camera Spy Pen, but is better, has higher quality and is up to live longer. Still, the best thing about it is that we do not have to wait for it to come out. The gadget is already available in Japan for 6,980 JPY (75.5 EUR or 55 USD). Full specs follow.

Let's start with video capabilities. Thanko Video Camera Spy Pen can shoot 736 x 576 video in .avi format at 19 to 22 frames per second. Unlike Panasonic HDC-HS350 we have recently reviewed, Thanko's pen will wear the battery down before you exceed memory space. Now in course: onboard battery life is limited to 3 hours when internal memory has 2GB. Memory expansion is available via MicroSDHC card to 10GB overall. Charge is done via USB. Spy pen can also shoot photos in 1280 x 960 resolution in .jpg format.

In rest, you get a normal ball-point pen with 6 months warranty (!), pretty slick, slim and stylish.

Get your true colors with Real Life Color Picker

In Photoshop, there’s a little pen which will copy the color settings of anything on your monitor screen so you can use it as your color in the program. Well, think of the Real Life Color Picker as … well, a real life version of just that – only for the real world.

The Color Picker can scan any color in the real world by placing the head of the pen against the object of color and pressing the scan button. Color sensors inside the pen talk to the attached RGB cartridge, which then mixes the proper proportions of red, green and blue to come up with an accurate ink color. It can then be used for artistic purposes like drawing or simply writing with it. Very cool.

I can see literally hundreds of possibilities for hobbyists – particularly scrapbookers and costumers looking to match the color of a particular garment or wallpaper sample in order to then get the right swatch to create the perfect scrap book page or costume. Or simply someone like my wife, who’s been writing in a journal non stop since she was 13 (now 42) and getting ink to suit her mood at the time.

It’s just a concept right now, but if this sucker gets funding, I can see Parker or Paper Mate picking this up just in time for school.