Monday, March 4th, 2013 Posted by Jim Thacker

Wacom unveils multi-touch tablet for graphics pros


Wacom dipped a toe in the waters of multi-touch when the Cintiq 24HD touch (above) was released last year. The firm has just announced a new (and hopefully more affordable) mobile tablet, due out this summer.

Wacom has announced that it is working on a mobile multi-touch tablet for graphics professionals.

In a post on the Wacom Americas Facebook page, the company wrote: “We’ve heard you shouting out loud for a Wacom mobile tablet for creative uses. Well… we’re listening. It will come. This summer.”

“And yes, it has a real pressure-sensitive professional pen, smooth multi-touch, an HD display, and other valuable features that you haven’t seen in other tablets.”

Price, size and other sticking points
As yet, there is no word on price or other specs, but both will be crucial to the success of the new tablet.

Wacom has dipped a toe into the waters of multi-touch technology before, but only for those with very deep pockets: the (admittedly awesome) Cintiq 24HD touch costs a wallet-busting $3,699.

But if you’re going to cut costs, a resolution of at least 1,600 x 900 and a 13″ screen is probably a minimum for professional work – better still, 1,920 x 1,080 and a 15″ screen.

Possible alternatives
At the minute, possible alternatives for graphics pros who want something more than an Android or iOS tablet include Microsoft’s $999 128GB Surface Pro, which offers 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, but squeezed down into a 10.6″ display, and the slightly larger units from manufacturers like Samsung and Lenovo.

(It’s worth noting that only certain applications play nicely with Windows 8’s native stylus support: SketchBook Pro and ArtRage currently work fine, apparently; Photoshop and ZBrush do not.)

But for diehard Wacom users, only the real thing will do.

At the time of writing, Wacom’s Facebook post had received over 2,000 likes in under three days – and even allowing for the fact that some are from spambots promoting miracle diets, that’s a lot of fan support.