FiftyThree wants to make Pencil , its stylish Bluetooth Low Energy stylus for the iPad, more useful. Some of its best features, such as Palm Rejection, Erase and Blend, only work with the official Paper app – but now, a FiftyThree SDK is available so that developers can implement these same features in their own apps.
To coincide with the release, FiftyThree has teamed up with three launch partners. Procreate , a digital art and illustration app that won an Apple Design Award last year, has combined core Pencil features – Paint, Smudge and Erase – into a new creative tool for its users. Noteshelf , a note-taking app for the iPad, now supports palm rejection and Pencil’s flip-to-erase ability. Squiggle , meanwhile, now lets you draw musical lines in its playful iOS app using Pencil.
Pencil has worked in the past as a non-connected stylus in other touchscreen apps, but this SDK should make some of it more playful and productive features – such as flipping the Pencil over and rubbing out mistakes with its ‘eraser’ – available in other apps. That will help FiftyThree to position Pencil as the preferred tablet stylus, regardless of the applications people use.
With the FiftyThree SDK, developers can identify when you’re using the Pencil’s tip and eraser, as well as your own finger or palm. It also brings in ‘Kiss-to-Pair’ which facilitates fast Bluetooth connectivity without diving into the iPad settings. The aforementioned palm rejection has made the jump and Surface Pressure , a new feature arriving with iOS 8 later this year, is also included.
Only a week ago , FiftyThree launched Pencil in the UK, Germany and France through Amazon, more than nine months after it first went on sale in the US. The stylus is available in either graphite or walnut.
Pencil & Paper: FiftyThree’s stylus launches in Europe for its Paper iPad app
FiftyThree’s Pencil , a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) stylus for iPad, has launched in Europe more than nine months after it first went on sale in North America .
FiftyThree was founded by a design team that formerly plied their trade at Microsoft, working on Xbox, Kinect and other flagship products. The first product out of the starting blocks in 2012 was an iPad app called Paper , designed for note-taking, sketching, and just about everything else you can do with a physical paper pad. It was previously named one of Apple’s iPad apps of the year, and it was given a chunky visual redesign just a few months back, shortly after a trademark squabble with Facebook .
With its dedicated stylus in tow, FiftyThree is bringing the analogue and digital spheres together, delivering a traditional ‘touchy feely’ input mechanism with the wonders of modern technology. It has previously revealed some big updates are on the horizon with iOS 8 firmly in mind.
From today, FiftyThree is making Pencil available to buy from Amazon in the UK, Germany and France, and it will be available in two models – ‘Walnut’, made from hardwood, and ‘Graphite’ in brushed aluminium.
Paper automatically knows whether it’s your finger or pencil touching the page, and adjusts things accordingly. Pencil also features a built-in eraser to make deleting content a breeze, while you can use your finger in tandem to smooth out edges and blend colors.
The built-in lithium ion battery should last around a month under normal use, and can be charged by USB. And although it has been built for use with Paper, it can be used as a basic stylus on any touchscreen device.
You can buy Pencil today on Amazon UK from today for £49.99/£64.99 (Graphite/Walnut), or on Amazon Germany/France for €59.90/€74.90.
➤ Pencil
LG’s large G3 Stylus smartphone leaks in new G3 Beat video ad
LG appears to have accidentally leaked a new version of its flagship G3 smartphone, called the G3 Stylus. In an advert promoting its smaller brethren, the 5-inch G3 Beat , the upcoming handset is clearly visible in the closing frames. While the industrial design is identical to the other models, the branding and pop-out stylus confirm that it’s a new variant.
A large display and dedicated stylus would suggest LG is targeting Samsung’s popular Galaxy Note line and other large-screen Android smartphones. As Engadget notes though, prior leaks have referenced a fairly low-resolution display – unlike the 2K panel in the original G3 – which would position it as a cheaper alternative to the almost inevitable Galaxy Note 4 later this year.
Read Next: LG G3 review: Third time’s a charm for LG’s 5.5″ flagship, but questions remain over battery life
➤ YouTube [via CNET | Engadget ]