Wacom, who are more commonly known for making graphics tablets for professional designers and artists have launched a new stylus designed for use with capacitive touchscreens (like most smartphones and tablets like the iPad).
Why is this needed – well sometimes a finger is just a bit too big…no sniggering at the back there!… Especially for tasks like note taking or drawing.
The Bamboo Stylus offers a soft tip that is 50% smaller than most competitors offering precision control.
Although the packaging is a bit rubbish once you hold the stylus it does feel very good quality, and the metal barrel lends it a nice weight. There is a clip for attaching to a pocket, or as I found the inside of the Apple iPad case (sorry iPad 2 owners your smartcover won’t quite take this) keeping it always conveniently to hand.
In use the screen responds well to the stylus, and made apps like Sketchbook Pro and ArtRage even better, I felt like I had much finer control over what I was drawing.
Note taking is the best use though, with Wacom also launching their first iOS app with Bamboo Paper – a free note taking app that mimics a paper notebook. You can vary the pen size and colour and the best recommendation I can give is that @thescrummymummy immediately started to doodle away on the page as if it was paper!
Although originally intended to be a paid app they have decided to keep it free for the basic version, with a pending update to add the option of multiple notebooks for a small charge.
Overall I really like this stylus, and I would find it hard to go back to using these apps without it!
Pros
Size
Weight
Comfortable to use
Fine control
Cons
Price
Available online from around £24.99
Below is the most recent update regarding Bamboo Paper
Just 11 days after the launch of Wacom’s first iPad app, Bamboo Paper reached 1 million downloads. Even for a popular product such as the iPad, that is incredibly fast, and faster in comparison to many other popular apps. Peter Kurstjens, Director Applications and Platforms at Wacom, explains what the impact of this success is having.
How do you judge the success of the Bamboo Paper app?
We are overwhelmed. We were confident that Bamboo Paper is a useful app and fits perfectly well with the Bamboo Stylus, but in all honesty, we didn’t expect that much success. We have managed to get one million downloads in only 11 days.
Is this success limited to certain countries only?
No, definitely not. We have managed to be the most downloaded app within days in the largest countries all over the world.
What feedback have you had from users?
Overall, we are receiving very positive feedback. Users appreciate the outstanding writing performance that Bamboo Paper offers. We also get the feeling that the offering is in line with the expectations people have of Wacom. This refers to offering a digital, paper-like experience as well as to the quality of Bamboo Paper.
In addition, users are asking for extended functionality, such as the ability to add multiple notebooks or to have landscape mode. We are using this feedback to evaluate which new functionalities we should add in future releases of the app.
How do you integrate those comments into the next steps for Bamboo Paper?
First of all, we have decided – based on the huge success of Bamboo Paper – to keep it as a free-to-download app. We want to continue giving people the opportunity to get the experience of Bamboo Paper. Secondly, we will extend the functionality of the app with the option to add multiple notebooks. From 14th July, users will be able to purchase a Notebook Pack for 1.19 GBP which enables users to add up to 20 new Notebooks in the library.
What are the future plans for Bamboo Paper?
This success has strengthened our commitment to continuing our development activities. Based on the user feedback, we will add new functionality in the coming months. In addition, we are considering extending this application beyond the iPad and making it available for other desktop or mobile operating systems.
