Remember the prototype drawing tools that Adobe showed last year at the MAX conference in Los Angeles? Well, the company’s Project Mighty and Napoleon have come out of development and into mainstream market as the Adobe Ink and Slide.

Generally, the form factor has remained almost the same although the Ink and the slide has more a minimalist look compared to its predecessors. The Slide for instance no longer has the LEDs of the Napoleon while the Ink’s LED indicator has been moved to the top of the stylus.

Both devices sport hydro-formed aluminium shells that give the Ink and the Slide a premium look as well as a comfortable feel. The Ink uses Adonit’s Pixel point technology giving the stylus pressure sensitivity up to 2048 levels allowing users to control the thickness of the lines drawn based on how hard they push the stylus against the screen. There’s also an LED indicator at the top of the Ink that shows which colour is to be generated when a user slides the stylus on the tablet’s screen.

The Ink also comes with a special case that doubles as a charger. The case (which connects to the Ink using magnets) charges the stylus using a micro USB cable for about an hour.

Meanwhile, the Slide is a straight edge for the iPad. When used with the Ink, the Slide allows the users to draw straight lines and other shapes easily. The buttons on the devices provide users with shortcut actions including selection of different shapes for the Slide or the pen tip menu for the ink.

Adobe is also making the SDK for the Ink and Slide available for developers. Moreover, both devices require a Creative Cloud membership for Cloud-connected capabilities including the Pen Tip menu, access to Kuler themes, Cloud clipboard and sharing to Behance.

The Ink and Slide works with Adobe’s new apps – Line and Sketch and connects to the iPad via Bluetooth v4.0 LE. Both devices work with the 4^th Generation iPad, the iPad Air and the two iPad Minis.

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Apple has recently been awarded the patent for a multifunction stylus. The patent was uncovered by Appleinsider.com and features a retractable mechanism that can either extend a flexible nib for drawing thin and sharp lines or a tip with multiple strands to draw lines much like a paintbrush tip would do.

Both tips will extend from a single opening to it is very likely that the stylus will feature a form of actuator and a collar mechanism to allow users to select which tip to use.

Moreover, the brush-like tip may reportedly feature light-transmissive tips that have the ability to let data pass through. This would enable the stylus to take in light information through the tips and inform the tablet to do several things such as changing a line’s colour, choose a certain pattern or change a brush type.

The patent was filed back in 2012 and was granted this week.

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It seems that Adobe is now venturing into the production of Hardware as it announced today two peripherals to work hand in hand with its creative suite and cloud service – the Project Mighty stylus and Napoleon ruler.

The announcement was made today at the company’s MAX conference in Los Angeles, California. Obviously, both devices were meant to be used together with the company’s existing creative suite and creative cloud by graphic artists and illustrators.

Having said this, both the Stylus and the ruler and closely integrated with Adobe’s software. The Project Mighty stylus connects to an iPad or iPhone via Bluetooth and is pressure sensitive. It also takes advantage of non-stylus touch which makes it possible for the iPad or iPhone to recognize finger input allowing users to erase any drawings with their finger.

The same technology allows users to give commands using a simple tap on the screen. The stylus also features a LED on the back that displays different colors depending on the current function of the stylus. There’s also a button on the Mighty which brings up tools and other resources saved on a user’s creative cloud.

Meanwhile, the Napoleon is a digital ruler that projects a digital line when the stylus draws a line along the edges of the ruler. The Napoleon looks very similar to a fingerboard and features two feet on its underside to give the tablet its orientation. The ruler can also be used similar to a protractor to draw curves on the screen.

Both the stylus and the ruler are still in the early R&D Phase but seeing that the company has already integrated its cloud service and software into the devices is a good indication that Adobe will bring the Napoleon and the Mighty into the market in the near future.

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