Wacom mobile tablet: "Cintiq Companion"
Wacom's been teasing for a few months that they have a "mobile tablet" product in the works, to be released "this summer".
Over the last few weeks they've released on Facebook a few badly-scripted comic strips, each of which drops a few hints:
1) There will be two versions, at least one of which has an Android logo on the box.
2) It's "designed for an optimized workflow of creative professionals", which would certainly be a first in the Tablet PC industry, who so far has catered exclusively to executives, nurses, and (lately) consumers.
3) It will have SSD storage (duh), and will use Intel Core i7 and/or nVidia Tegra system processors. The i7 almost certainly means Windows 8, and plenty of horsepower. The Tegra implies Android. Possibly in the same device.
And now they've announced when they're going to announce it: August 20.
From the above crumbs of information, it's possible that it won't suck. It'll still need a display that's at least 13" diagonal, and it better have some "Expresskeys" on the bezel to simulate pushing Shift or Alt on the missing keyboard. And of course it needs to run real Windows apps.
Over the last few weeks they've released on Facebook a few badly-scripted comic strips, each of which drops a few hints:
1) There will be two versions, at least one of which has an Android logo on the box.
2) It's "designed for an optimized workflow of creative professionals", which would certainly be a first in the Tablet PC industry, who so far has catered exclusively to executives, nurses, and (lately) consumers.
3) It will have SSD storage (duh), and will use Intel Core i7 and/or nVidia Tegra system processors. The i7 almost certainly means Windows 8, and plenty of horsepower. The Tegra implies Android. Possibly in the same device.
And now they've announced when they're going to announce it: August 20.
From the above crumbs of information, it's possible that it won't suck. It'll still need a display that's at least 13" diagonal, and it better have some "Expresskeys" on the bezel to simulate pushing Shift or Alt on the missing keyboard. And of course it needs to run real Windows apps.
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4) The art makes it look 15" diagonal, and they're bragging about how big it is. It supports programmable on-screen gestures. The display is "HD" (presumably 1920x1080). It's hard to tell from the Engrish dialog, but I think they're saying it has two cameras. I-)
5) It will run Adobe CS, Painter, and some other app whose badly-drawn icon I can't make out. So, full Windows 8. And it comes with a full-size stylus (not the undersized kind that you can stow inside a tablet).
They're apparently taking their cue from Microsoft's Surface (not a great idea), by offering two versions: Cintiq Companion* (a full version of Windows 8, Intel Core i7) and Cintiq Companion Hybrid (Android, Tegra CPU ... which is at least better than Windows RT, because there are apps for it). The Hybrid can also be used either as a mobile device running Android or as a dumb Cintiq attached to your Mac or PC, which makes more sense as a product than just a big Android tablet with a really good digitizer on it.
- The screen is 13.3" (same as their latest just-a-Cintiq), which is better than most tablets, but 15" really would have been much nicer. The device looks reasonably slim, but with a bit more bezel than needed for handling, so a little bulky. Resolution is 1920x1080 like the Cintiq HD13.
- The same stylus as the current Cintiqs, which is better than the toothpicks that come with the Surface and Samsung's tablets. 2048 levels of pressure, so it's better than the digitizers on everybody else's Win8 tablets (which use 10-year-old Wacom tech).
- Also multitouch input on the screen, which should be nice for zooming, but might be tricky for scrolling.
- Programmable on-screen buttons. Four physical buttons (good for use as Shift- or Alt-) on the bezel, plus a circular rocker with center button which defaults to up/down/left/right+select, but can probably be reprogrammed. This is a feature from a lot of old-school tablet computers that manufacturers have been way too quick to dump in their haste to mimic the iPad.
- Windows version only: HDMI and DisplayPort so you can hook up a second screen. (The Android version itself is the second screen.)
- USB and Bluetooth for connecting other devices.
- Wifi of course. Front and back cameras for some reason.
- 4-position detachable stand.
- It isn't available yet ("mid-October"), but they're taking pre-orders for the Android version at $1500 with 16GB storage, and $2000 for the Windows model with 256GB storage (with bigger options for more money). By comparison, the Cintiq HD13 is $1000.
So nothing particularly earth-shattering, and the price is unsurprising. But I can't really find fault with it, and if I had $2000 sitting around that I no other use for, I'd be happy to use one.By the way, Samsung has announced a device that beats this on a few points. The Ativ Q has the same size screen, but an amazing 3200x1800 resolution, detachable keyboard included, and runs both Win8 and Android. A German retailer is taking pre-orders for €1600 ($2150). On the down side, the stylus and digitizer aren't as good, and it doesn't have on-bezel buttons ... typical Tablet PC failings.
*Why do companies do this? It makes is so difficult to refer to just the one that doesn't have the extra bit on the end of the name. Manga Studio 5 not-EX. Cintiq Companion not-Hybrid. Apple used to have the MacBook not-Pro-or-Air. Not-Uncanny X-Men. Not-happy Jason.
Promo page on the US site:
http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanion/en/
I don't own an iPad but I've used the Sketchbook apps on both my phone and desktop and I could see the iPad/Jot/Sketchbook Pro combo working well, which might just be the excuse I need to buy one… :-)