LateNiteSoft Releases Sketches 2.0

LateNiteSoft has announced the release of Sketches 2 through Apple's App Store. The new product, a major improvement over their popular Sketches application, sports an innovative UI and a host of new and advanced features, while keeping the ease of use of the classic application. Sketches 2 is available for iPhone OS 3.x devices at the special introductory price of $1.99 / 1.59 Euro.

Sketches 2 is a new product that dramatically improves and augments the drawing and sketching capabilities of the original Sketches application, without compromising any of the fun and pleasantness customers are used to. Sketches 2 allows users to easily jot down their notes and scribble their thoughts using their fingers, illustrating their ideas with colourful diagramas, notes and sketches.

Built-in localization and extensive sharing options make it excel as a casual social pastime. In addition, Sketches 2 adds a lot more flexibility, making it suitable for creative individuals or even artists on the go. All areas of the application have been revised and redesigned to accommodate the new features in a sensible, easy to use interface where polish and attention to detail are noticed across the board.


The User Interface of Sketches 2 has been designed so it can provide obvious access to frequent features while allowing users to access advanced functionality when they need it. Not less importantly, it is also aesthetically pleasing and, in the words of co-founder Jorge Llubia, "a real pleasure to use". "We are very proud and satisfied with the result", explains Jorge. "We have tried hard to replicate Apple's philosophy of user-centeredness, making controls look obvious without compromising functionality, and I think we have achieved an innovative paradigm to easily let the user choose among a myriad of options for a given setting". This approach has been put to use in the selection of predefined clipart shapes, background styles or the color picker. "For the casual user, the way to select a pencil and a color is easy and fun. Advanced users will appreciate the flexibility -and beauty- of the new professional color picker".

The same philosophy can be found in other areas of Sketches 2. Users can effortlessly sketch diagrams using predefined lines, circles and solid colors, but there are also natural-looking brushes that cater to artists and creative aficionados. "Sketches 2 has grown from a simple and fun sketching tool to a simple, fun and flexible painting and sketching tool", says co-founder Pedro Cuenca. "Artists will love the ability to paint using our new collection of brushes", he explains, "they will even be able to see how paint is progressively applied as they draw, achieving the exact color intensity they require".

The use of drag-and-drop gestures for shape selection, or the incorporation of a continuous zoom and panning mechanism triggered by multitouch pinching are other examples of LateNiteSoft's commitment to polish and detail.

Sketches 2 takes full advantage of the capabilities of iPhone OS 3.0. One example is the ability to capture a map with the user's current position to use as the background for a drawing. "In previous versions of Sketches", explains Jorge, "we had to use a very simple mapping interface, but the new one provided by OS 3.0 is stunning - users can zoom in to the desired area and select map, satellite or hybrid views, just as in the built-in Maps application. Using the map background, the new place marker shapes and the ability to email or tweet drawings, we are constantly using Sketches 2 whenever we go out with friends".


Sketches 2 has also been created with device- and localization-awareness in mind. It will adapt to the characteristics of the device it is running on, and will show a localized version of the user interface when possible. Sketches 2 is currently available in English and Spanish, with French, German, Italian and Japanese coming in the next product update.

Pricing and Availability:
Sketches 2 is available through Apple's App Store for only $1.99 / 1.59 Euro (offer valid for a limited time). Sketches 1, currently at version 1.7.6, is available for OS 2.0 devices for just $0.99 / 0.79 Euro.


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