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Pen pushers who took a chance on Livescribe's note-recording smartpen have benefited from some niceapps, hacks and upgrades along the way. Now the company's latest productivity-booster is a software update called Connect, which lets you share your scribbles via Email, Google Docs, Facebook and Evernote, as well as through Livescribe's own Pencast platform. Some of these sharing options were already available but Connect tries to speed things in an interesting way: by letting you set sharing instructions even as you jot down a note. Simply draw a double line and write, say, 'Facebook' or 'Google Docs' somewhere on the page, and the sharing will take place automatically the next time you sync to your Mac or PC. Most of the sharing options are free, but if you own an older Pulse model or the new entry-level $99.95 2GB Echo you'll need to buy a $15 upgrade before you can share via Email or Google Docs. Heck, we'd pay  way  more than that if only Live...

Ready to get your bump on? You'd better be because Google's planning to bring peer-to-peer NFC sharing to the Ice Cream Sandwich release of Android. Imagine it: 0-click contact, web page, and YouTube video sharing between your NFC-equipped Android smartphones and tablets. Just bring the devices together and voila, data shared without launching an application or navigating through the UI. Google plans to build this functionality into as many systems apps as it can while providing the API to developers to 0-click enable their third-party applications. Watch it go down phone-to-phone and phone-to-tablet (prototype) after the break. It's the future, get used to it.

After adding AirPlay to AppleTV support to its Android media player app over the weekend, DoubleTwist's followup is a page out of Microsoft's Zune squirting (R.I.P.) handbook as it has implemented the ability to share MP3s between two devices. Play the video above to get more details on how DoubleTap works (or just keep an eye on Google's I/O event where it will be on display) but basically you'll need two Android phones with NFC, then tap them together and watch the file sharing magic happen automagically over WiFi or Bluetooth. The new update went live in the Android Market overnight, now all you need to do is find someone else with a Nexus S, Galaxy S II or any of the other NFC-packing Android devices expected to arrive shortly. Android Market

We've been told time and time again to fear our mechanical friends, so imagine our relief when we heard that some Swiss scientists had a batch of bots that displayed altruism. What's more, these little two-wheeled foragers weren't programmed to share, they  evolved  the trait. Researchers at EPFL infused Alice microbots with digital "genes" that mutated over time as well as color sensors that allow them to navigate their environment. The robots were tasked with collecting "food" and given the option to keep it for themselves or split it amongst their silicon-brained relatives. The more they decided to give to others with similar genetic makeup the more those virtual genes were passed on to future generations -- including the one for altruism. The experiment is an example of Hamilton's Rule, an evolutionary model for how the seemingly counter-intuitive trait of selflessness could arise through natural selection. Don't let your guard down just...

Remember how Eye-Fi was cooking up some software to let their WiFi-enabled SD memory cards sling photos directly to your tablet or phone? Here's some sweet news -- starting next week, Direct Mode will be a free download for any Eye-Fi X2 card, and debut alongside companion apps in the Android Market and iTunes App Store. Moreover, the company's celebrating the launch of the new transfer protocol with a brand-new card, the $80 Eye-Fi Mobile X2, which should be available for purchase online momentarily and make its merry way to Best Buy and Apple stores by April 17th. Basically, the Mobile is a redux of the $50 Connect X2, but with double the storage capacity (8GB) and Direct Mode pre-installed -- though a price drop on the top-of-the-line Pro X2 (to $100) will add geotagging and RAW support for just one Jackson more. Need a refresher on how Direct Mode works? Peek our CES video demo (and a hefty press release) after the break. WHY WAIT? NEW EYE-FI MOBILE X2 ...

Yes, you've seen these guys before, and now the latest PogoPlug offspring are ready to ship. Both PogoPlug Video and its storage-sporting cousin, the Buffalo CloudStor, put their own unique twist on the firm's remote access service. As you might recall, PogoPlug Video, which is now available exclusively from Best Buy for $200, allows you to hook up your external hard drives and share streaming video, music, and images to devices anywhere with internet access. Buffalo's CloudStor, on the other hand, provides the same cloud-based access, with a little something extra. It's the first PogoPlug branded gadget to sport integrated storage, and comes in three iterations, ringing in at $150 for 1TB, $210 for 2TB, and $250 for the 2TB Pro version. Now you can share all your favorite kitten clips, without ever uploading them to YouTube. Isn't that precious? Slashgear PogoPlug