Samsung isn't new to the tablet game, but the company's newest offering - the Samsung Series 7 Slate - may be exactly what buyers have been waiting for in Windows tablets. We went hands on with the new Series 7 Slate, and we were pleased with what we saw.
When it comes to tools for integrating freehand art into the digital workflow, Wacom remains the leader. Its tools aren't perfect--and certainly aren't cheap--but it's hard to find any more respected. And when it comes to drawing, nothing yet beats pen (or pencil) and paper for fluidity and portability. Wacom attempts to combine the best of both worlds with its Inkling, a pen and receiver combo that tracks your penstrokes for up to 50 sketches and uploads them to a computer for use with applications like Photoshop or Illustrator.
Few devices make you reassess your career choices, but the Wacom Cintiq is one of them. The interactive pen display device makes us wish we'd gone to art school and learned how to draw (instead of listening to our parents and study law). This newest model, the Cintiq 24HD has just been approved by the FCC and, while the documents don't reveal much, we presume it's a 24-inch (and HD-resolution) follow up to last year's device.
The Cregle PenBook is a new tablet computer with a 10 inch display. But while most tablets hitting the market this year run Google Android, the PenBook is a Windows 7 machine. It also adds a digital pen for handwriting and drawing to the mix.
We first heard about the PenBook last month, and now the tablet has shown up at the FCC website. While there’s still no official release date, it looks like the computer is inching a little closer to reality.
“India is the fastest-growing market for Wacom, hence we are investing significantly in sprucing up our Indian subsidiary. This will include adding more sales people, expanding and enhancing post-sales, and increasing demand for our products both in the consumer and commercial segments,” said Shigeki Komiyama, Director & Executive Officer, Japan & APAC, Wacom.
The Wacom tablet range includes the entry-level pen and multi-touch input device under the Bamboo series for consumers; Intuos for creative pros; high-end Cintiq pen input with LCD display; and the business range for the commercial segment.
Wacom Co., a manufacturer of touch-based graphic tablets and pens with U.S. operations headquartered in Vancouver, reported a 21 percent year-over-year drop in U.S. sales and 6.2 percent drop worldwide for the fiscal quarter ending June 30. The company recorded about $21.2 million in U.S. sales and $92.3 million worldwide for the quarter.
The Japanese company’s quarterly earnings report, issued last week, attributed the drop to the lingering impact of the March 11 Japan earthquake on manufacturing, the rising value of the Japanese yen, and a change in its product line that dampened sales.
