Depending on the user, the digital notepad available on just about any smartphone is either filled with jottings, passwords, and reminders to buy milk, or, in the case of the organized mind, with business analyses, election speech drafts or names of people together with quick labels like “useless”. If you don’t want to look archaic by pulling a pencil and a notebook from your pocket, the smartphone is probably the easiest way to take quick notes.

Archaic? A smart pendant called Senstone may even skip the process of “typing” words into your smartphone. Still a work in progress, Senstone is claimed by its makers to record voice memos, organize them for you automatically, and translate them into text. No typing or tapping on the phone.

The pendant can also be worn as a bracelet or necklace. A small LED inside lights up to indicate it's recording, but other than that there are no indicators that there's any technology in this at all. The current version has to be tapped lightly to make it start recording, but the creators are working on a way to record by clicking your fingers (do not attempt in a Russian restaurant). Once your recording is done, it will sync with your phone where the app will file it with the rest of your recordings, organized either by the location they were taken or the keywords you assign.

Senstone is using its own software for the organization part, but for voice conversion reportedly it's still trying out different options to find the most accurate, including Nuance and IBM's Watson.