Paper developer FiftyThree enters the stylus fray with Pencil
FiftyThree’s Paper made waves when it was first released in 2012, thanks to its beautiful implementation of a digital sketchbook, and the company has only improved it since. Now, FiftyThree is embarking on a new kind of update for its iPad app—hardware, in the form of a Bluetooth stylus called Pencil.
Outwardly, Pencil looks like a cross between the Maglus and Cosmonaut, with a thick rubber tip, elongated body, and magnetic clasp (on the walnut model only). But like many recent styluses from other companies, the Pencil also boasts a Bluetooth component.
For most styluses, Bluetooth support means creating a Software Development Kit (SDK) for app-makers to implement across a wide variety of drawing and sketching apps. FiftyThree, in contrast, seems to have tailor-made Pencil for Paper—and for Paper only. While the stylus will still work like a regular capacitative tool in other apps, its special features only come alive in FiftyThree’s native app.
And those special features are pretty nifty. There’s no pressure-sensitivity, but Pencil offers “Kiss-to-Touch” instant pairing with Paper—no pesky switches or hidden settings to enable—along with palm rejection, an eraser tool on the end of the stylus, and Paper’s new Blend mode.
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