Livescribe Shutters Developer Program To Focus On The Cloud

Livescribe has shut down its developer program, telling coders that the company is looking to focus instead on "cloud access, storage and services." The platform had allowed developers to create apps for the digital pens, and was previously a key selling point for models like the Livescribe Echo we reviewed last year.

"Our recent introduction of Livescribe Connect, which enables customers to easily send notes and audio, as a pencast PDF, to people or destinations of their choice like Google Docs, Evernote, email, and Facebook, is an important step in this direction. Applications in our online store will remain available for download and purchase pending compatibility with future Livescribe software updates." Livescribe developer programs team

After three years, however, Livescribe has decided to call it a day. The company says it will continue to keep its app store open, but warns that future firmware updates could well break compatibility. After July 22, no further submissions for inclusion will be accepted, and the SDK and developer website will be pulled. Meanwhile, the developer forum will be axed on July 8, and users will no longer be able to access the custom paper penlets to print out the specially dotted forms the Livescribe pens rely on.

Unsurprisingly, the news hasn't gone down well with Livescribe developers. As one dev puts it, "in the span of just a few hours you've turned me from one of the biggest evangelizers of Livescribe to someone who wishes she still had the receipt and packaging for her Echo so she could return it."

The expectation is that an unofficial hacking community will sprout up out of the embers of the official project, though without access to the Livescribe store distribution will be an issue.

[via Hack a Day]