A pen that reads and talks

This Christmas, how about getting a pen that reads what your kids write then barks it out through a loudspeaker? OK, maybe that doesn't sound so appealing at first, but the fly pen is a really smart toy.

Launched this week, the fly pen is the latest product from leapfrog enterprises inc. Like the company's popular leapster and leappad gadgets, the pen is both toy and computer, education and entertainment.

The USD 99.99 fly, designed for 8-to-13-year-olds, is a fat pen with a small camera aimed along the ballpoint tip. It looks at what you write, and it's uncannily good at understanding it.

The pen talks to you through a small loudspeaker but, wisely, also includes earbuds, a decision that should save some parental sanity. It is powered by a single AAA battery.

Some things the pen lets you do out of the box:

- Draw a calculator on the page. Tap a formula, and the pen will tell you the result.

- Draw a series of circles. The pen will call out a state capital or state for each circle. Connect the correct state capital circles with the state circles while the pen times you.

- Draw a small piano eyeboard. As you tap the keys, the pen plays the corresponding notes.

For more meaty educational options, you need to buy add-on cartridges that plug into the top of the pen. Three cartridges priced between USD 24.99 and USD 34.99 teach spelling, math or Spanish. The pen's limitation is that one has to use special paper for it.