On Monday, Evernote – company steeped in digital products designed to help people remember to do things – announced the acquisition of Penultimate, the most popular digital handwriting application for iPad.
Penultimate also happens to be the fourth best-selling iPad app of all time.
The acquisition will allow Evernote to expand its handwriting capabilities, while also making Penultimate available on more platforms and devices.
“Digital handwriting has been around for decades, but it has never gone mainstream because the hardware and software simply weren’t aligned. Thanks to Penultimate and the iPad, that’s all changing,” said Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote. “For the first time ever, writing on a tablet is really great, which is why we chose this moment to make the acquisition. We have big plans for Penultimate that will both enhance the app and bring more capabilities into Evernote. It’s already the best handwriting app out there, and it’s only just getting started.”
If you’re not familiar, the Penultimate app is designed to resemble a physical notebook. Individuals can use a finger or stylus to take notes on the go.
“Technology often distances us from things that feel natural and human. With Penultimate, our goal was to use the most advanced tools to enable something that was at once powerful and familiar,” said Ben Zotto, creator of Penultimate. “I’m thrilled to join the Evernote family. Their vision and expertise will help bring exciting improvements to Penultimate, and together we’ll elevate the importance of handwriting within Evernote.”
