It’s always cause for celebration when Wacom unveils new products! Today, the Vancouver-based company unveiled the new Cintiq Companion family of creative tablets and the new Intuos Creative Stylus, a pressure-sensitive pen for the iPad. Here is the scoop on the two new additions to the Wacom family:
Cintiq Companion
The Cintiq Companion lineup features two models, one a Windows 8 device, dubbed Cintiq Companion, the other, called Cintiq Companion Hybrid, an Android device. Both models deliver a professional pen-on-screen performance for users longing to work wherever and whenever they want. In typical Wacom fashion, users can expect a beautifully designed tablet that is extremely powerful and built to last.
Intuos Creative Stylus is, a professional-grade pen with 2048 levels of pressure for iPad designers and illustrators on-the-go seeking best-in-class performance. The stylus inspires creativity anytime and anywhere by delivering a realistic pen-on-paper feel and intelligent design, allowing the palm to rest naturally on the iPad’s surface while drawing or sketching.
Here is some more info on the new arrivals from the official studio release:
The Cintiq Companion supports creative freedom by offering everything necessary for productive art and design work whether in the studio or on the go. Providing an all-purpose, mobile workstation, it is a fully-fledged Windows 8 tablet, powered by a 3rd generation Intel Core processor and IntelHD Graphics 4000 that pack a punch whether designing a character, or retouching a photo. For excellent creative results, Wacom offers two models. One with 8GB memory and 256GB SSD with Windows 8 and the other with 8GB memory, 512GB SSD with Windows 8 Pro.
For illustrators and designers who want to draw, sketch and paint when mobile, but who also want to use their professional software when connected to a Mac or PC, the Cintiq Companion Hybrid offers a ‘two-in-one’ solution. The Cintiq Companion Hybrid functions as a traditional Cintiq when connected to a Mac or PC. When unplugged, it is perfect for light, spontaneous work using Android apps. The tablet comes with a powerful Nvidia Tegra 4 processor, Android Jellybean and specially designed software such as the new Wacom Creative Canvas for painting and sketching. For further refinement when back in the studio, rough images can be easily transferred to a computer or shared directly to popular cloud services with the easy and pre-loaded ASTRO File Manager. Two versions of the Cintiq Companion Hybrid are available, a 16GB version and a 32GB version.
All of the time-savers that professionals expect from a Wacom Cintiq are integrated in both the Cintiq Companion and Cintiq Companion Hybrid, including the customizable new on-screen controls, ExpressKeys, Rocker Ring and Radial Menu. To enable a truly mobile working style, the Cintiq Companion family packs some impressive mobile communications features such as WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth (version 4.0 for Cintiq Companion and version 3.0 for Cintiq Companion Hybrid), front/rear HD cameras (2M pixels/8M pixels), stereo headset jack and microphone for hosting calls or streaming movies.
As creative professionals require comfort and ergonomics to offset long working hours, an adjustable and detachable stand is also included with both products, offering four working angles – from flat to upright.
Pricing and Availability
The Cintiq Companion Hybrid models are priced at $1499 (USD) for the 16GB and $1599 (USD) for the 32GB. Both products will be available from Wacom’s eStore in mid-September. The Cintiq Companion models are offered at $1999 (USD) for the Windows 8 with 256GB SSD and $2499 (USD) for the Windows 8 Pro with 512GB SSD. The Cintiq Companion models are scheduled to appear at the Wacom eStore in October.
For more info, visit www.wacom.com.
