Polar Pen: A pen-hybrid stylus made of magnets
We've seen a few hybrid tablet stylus/ballpoint pens kicking around, but the Polar Pen, with its barrel made out of rare-earth magnets, absolutely takes the biscuit.
Anyone who's ever played with a set of Zen Magnets, or a pair of rattlesnake eggs, knows how mesmerizing magnets can be. What if you could have a set of awesome magnets that was also a pen...that was also a stylus?
Well, say hello to the Polar Pen by Canadian designer Andrew Gardner. Gardner often used to pull apart his pens (who didn't?), and he loves magnets, so he decided to put the two together. The ink cartridge sits inside a series of small, tubular rare-earth magnets that click together to form the barrel of the pen. If you want to get super fancy, you can also get a stylus tip that sits over the pen's nib.
So, what's the point of a pen made of powerful magnets? Well, sometimes the mind just needs to relax and have a play. "From tool to toy, it will inspire you at work, school, or home," Gardner says on the product's Kickstarter page. "If you enjoy tinkering with things or are fascinated with the power of magnets, then this product is for you. We have found many fun and functional ways of using the Polar Pen, and we are really excited to see what you will come up with."
Based on videos on the Kickstarter page, it looks like the Polar Pen has endless possibilities. And before you get concerned about powerful magnets near your iPad, it will have no effect on the SSDs installed in tablets -- or your credit card or mobile phone, for that matter.
Because Polar is modular, it comes in several iterations. In fact, for a pledge of $10, you will get two nickel-coated, silver-plated neodymium magnets you can stick on your fridge, plus a cap. The lowest-priced stylus consists of eight magnets and a stylus tip and comes in at $30, whereas $35 will get you a 12-magnet pen. For the 13-magnet pen/stylus hybrid, you're looking at a pledge of $40, all with free shipping -- and you can pay a little extra on all tiers to upgrade from high-quality silver to 24K gold-plated magnets.
Each Polar pen comes with a Pilot Hi-tec-C gel-ink cartridge; when this runs out, you can replace it with uni-ball Signo UM-151 or uni-ball Gel Grip refills.
If you're still not sold, watch the video below. Then head over to the Polar Pen Kickstarter page and watch the other videos. What you do after that is up to you.
(Source: Crave Australia)