AppleInsider StaffCreative software giant Adobe unveiled on Monday the company's new move into hardware for creatives, showing off its Project Mighty stylus and Napoleon ruler and hinting that more hardware products may be in the offing.
The new hardware offerings from Adobe pair via low-energy Bluetooth with a mobile device and leverages Adobe's mobile Creative Cloud software to enable rich content creation features. The Project Mighty stylus is a pressure-sensitive pen with a single button which, when pressed, brings up a menu of design options and content, including drawings and files from a user's Creative Cloud clipboard. Adobe's software recognizes whether a user is interacting with the screen with the stylus or with a finger, allowing for using the stylus solely as an input method and one's fingers to erase.
The stylus was designed in collaboration with industrial design firm Ammunition. The firm decided on a twisting, triangular shape for the stylus in order to give it a more ergonomic feel that conforms to the hand.
The Napoleon ruler can be placed atop a user's mobile device screen and, in combination with the stylus, allows for the creation of sharp and specific shapes such as lines and curves.
Adobe gave no information on when consumers could expect to buy either device. The company did mention, though, that Project Mighty and Napoleon are "just the beginning" of Adobe's efforts in pairing hardware and software, possibly hinting that more devices are in the offing.
The hardware announcements came in the midst of a big day for Adobe, one in which the company revealed it was going subscription-only and rebranded its Creative Suite lineup as Creative Cloud.
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37 Comments
Gee, I hope it isn't too complex.
What's next from Adobe, Suleiman drafting compass? Alexander protractor? Gorbechev theodolite?
Interesting ideas, especially the 'ruler' idea. Could also be nice with some virtual French curves. I still don't like their push into the Creative Cloud. I'll take backups online, but no way I want file size restrictions, them constantly pushing me to upgrade storage and recurring monthly fees.
The ruler looks pretty nice and I'd like to see some more features of the pen. Looks like a nice start.
The ruler looks pretty nice and I'd like to see some more features of the pen. Looks like a nice start.
"And boy, have we patented it."
Still needs a hardware digitising layer on the iPad itself for this stuff to truly work properly. Notice how carefully he avoided touching the screen at all times. If you have to worry about where you place your hand on the screen and hold the pen in an un-natural or unusual way to get it to work, then it isn't "drawing."