Compelling presentations can be difficult to produce. Microsoft PowerPoint is so 1995. Apple's Keynote is more interesting, but not that many people own it. Neither tool has quite enough interactivity to make them responsive to real-time changes or questions.

Enter the Canson Papershow, which allows whatever you draw to appear instantaneously on a computer monitor.

Using just the included Bluetooth-enabled pen with a camera built into the tip and USB dongle, you can draw in different colors, make shapes, erase, and undo by writing on Canson's specially made "invisible dot" paper (if this sounds familiar, it's the same Anoto technology incorporated into products such as the Logitech io Personal Digital Pen and the newer LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen). You can easily bring up presentations and use the Papershow to make real-time modifications or draw pictures like that UPS Whiteboard commercial guy. To change color and brush size, and to access other functions, you just tap icons in the right margin of the paper.

I got my hands on the device, and I actually had a great time playing with it. The software was easy to use, the pen worked flawlessly, and the digital paper picked up everything I wrote down. I can't draw well, but I was able to doodle some simple pictures with various colors without many problems. I especially loved that I could easily undo mistakes and erase random blemishes.

While the device is clearly a niche product, the Papershow serves its purpose well. My job doesn't require me to give presentations, but if it did, I would always use this device to keep people interested in what was happening on the big screen. It's even fun for everyday users--I showed the Papershow to many co-workers who also had fun messing around with it.

A company rep I spoke to expects the Papershow to be released before the end of February on Staples.com. The estimated retail price is $199 for the starter kit.

Post by Sean Ludwig