VANCOUVER, WA — Staying on top of evolving trends in the creative community and responding to frequent requests from professional customers, Wacom is extending the creative experience from the desktop to a mobile environment with the new Cintiq Companion line of creative tablets.
The Cintiq Companion line, available in two models, enables creative professionals to work wherever they want. The Cintiq Companion runs Windows 8 and full versions of creative software, while the Cintiq Companion Hybrid, on the other hand, is a traditional Cintiq when plugged into a Mac or PC, but when used as a mobile device, works as a stand-alone Android tablet with enough power to do light sketching and start creative processes with suitable apps. The new tablets were developed to bring more freedom to the creative workflow. They also ensure a distinct Cintiq experience even in mobile use, leveraging key elements of the Cintiq 13HD and Cintiq 22HD touch, for example, full HD display with touch control and the Wacom Pro Pen with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity as well as tilt recognition.
Providing an all-purpose, mobile workstation, Cintiq Companion is a full-fledged Windows 8 tablet, powered by a third-generation Intel Core processor and Intel HD Graphics 4000. 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 transformed for light, spontaneous work using Android apps. The tablet comes with an NvidiaTegra
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.
The Cintiq Companion Hybrid models are priced at $1,499 for the 16GB and $1,599 for the 32GB. Both products will be available from Wacom's eStore in mid-September. The Cintiq Companion models are offered at $1,999 for the Windows 8 with 256GB SSD and $2,499 for the Windows 8 Pro with 512GB SSD. The Cintiq Companion models are scheduled to appear at the Wacom eStore in October.
In other news, Wacom has also introduced the new Intuos Creative Stylus, a pressure-sensitive digital pen for sketching, drawing and painting on an iPad. It works seamlessly with the iPad and a series of creative apps. The Intuos Creative Stylus ($99) will be available at the beginning of October from Best Buy.