4 Hits the Floor for Wacom - Intuos4 Global Release

Three years in the making and anchored by a quantum leap of engineering in its new pen, the compelling updates to the Intuos4 were inspired by members of Wacom’s professional community. All the Wacom hallmark aesthetics, elegance, ergonomics and high gloss finishes feature in the new model and are underpinned by new productivity, throughput and control developments.

The Intuos4 Grip Pen is engineered with new proprietary Tip Sensor technology, offering users near-zero (three grams) starting pressure. The advanced engineering of the pen means it captures the slightest nuance of pen pressure against the tablet surface. By offering 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, Wacom has doubled the resolution of the pen’s pressure curve to further enhance feedback and expand the creative effects within software applications that support pressure sensitivity.  The lightest touch will activate the pen, emulating the same feel, response and results derived from working with traditional art tools and offering users the most natural feeling experience of any digital pen to date.

The tablet itself features a new reversible (ambidextrous) design that ensures “shortcut” ExpressKeys^™ are always in the ideal position for both right-handed and left-handed users. ExpressKeys are now conveniently located on one side of the tablet, making them easily accessible for the users’ non-dominant hand. To move from right-hand to left-hand operation, users simply rotate the tablet 180 degrees and change the orientation of the illuminated icons within the Wacom Tablet Properties software. 

Specific workflow and productivity tools in the Intuos4 include shortcut and modifier keys with multiple customisable and application-specific profiles as well as OLED (organic light emitting diode) displays. They are located beside the keys for quick reference and to remind of the current function of each ExpressKey. With past Intuos versions, users had to rely on their own memories for their specific key function settings. Settings can now be made specific to different applications, meaning the displays will update immediately as the user changes between applications.

Also new to the Intuos4 is the user-defined Touch Ring. A button located in the centre of the ring “toggles” the ring between functions such as zoom, scroll, brush size adjustment, canvas rotation, and layer selection. The Touch Ring is anticipated to be a particularly popular update for videographers when rendering.  Capable of controlling up to four different functions in any application, the Touch Ring features an LED located along the perimeter to indicate the current function.

The release of the Intuos4 is anticipated to spark a flurry of additional developments amongst software providers who will want to leverage the new capacity of pressure sensitive technologies. 

“We anticipate range of developments from our software partners to further expand on pen-related features and functionality,” said Mr. David Spencer, Managing Director of Wacom Australia.  “The Intuous4 provides an experience and performance, tangible workflow and productivity enhancements that far surpass anything we’ve had before.”

The Intuos4 will launch across Australia on March 26, 2009 and comes in four sizes to meet varying workflow and workspace requirements – Small (RRP $378 GST inc) Medium (RRP $598 GST inc), Large (RRP $798 GST inc) and Extra Large ($1328 GST inc). Stock will be available from all leading computer resellers from early April.

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About Wacom

Wacom Company Ltd., (Tokyo Stock Exchange 6727), is a global company based in Japan with subsidiaries in the United States (Wacom Technology Corporation), Germany (Wacom Europe GmbH), China (Wacom China Corporation), Korea (Wacom Korea Co., Ltd.), Australia (Wacom Australia Pty, Ltd), Singapore (Wacom Singapore Pte. Ltd.), and Taiwan (Wacom Taiwan Information Co., Ltd.). In addition to these subsidiaries, Wacom has affiliate offices around the world to support marketing and distribution in over 150 countries. Founded in 1983, Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays, and digital interface solutions. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion and designs around the world and provides business and home users with their leading interface technology to express their personality. Millions of customers are using its cordless, battery-free, pressure-sensitive pen technology.