Wacom

While many search for "how to move to Canada" today, I just want to distract myself while I avoid burying my head in the sand. I feel bad about the world today, but I must remember that we live at a time where technology is magic and I have the opportunity to mobilize. The ways in which I choose to escape the world today include distractions that aren't distractions at all. Today I bring you a list of technology-driven activities that are fueled by hope for a better future - along with a few easy escapes if you're not quite there yet.

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The iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil shook the tablet world, demonstrating that things that can be created digitally using a rather unassuming accessory. But while the Pencil might be precise and accurate, the iPad Pro itself sometimes becomes the bottleneck, especially for illustrators and artists who need more muscle than the mobile device can provide. Such creators usually go to their Macs or PCs to do “real work”, usually with a Wacom drawing tablet. With Duet’s new Duet Pro subscription, you can have all that without burning a hole through your pocket to buy a Wacom Cintiq.

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The launch of the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil ignited a debate in the graphics community: has Wacom lost its luster? Trying to make up for lost time, fame, and probably customers, Wacom has launched a new series of Windows 10 tablets that put artists and creatives at the very center. Like Wacom’s other Windows tablets, the new MobileStudio Pro line combines display, computing power, and stylus in one large slab. But unlike those older models, some of the newer tablets are not only “3D Ready”, some even have 3D cameras.

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Joining yesterday's reveal of the Slate and Folio smartpads, Wacom is back at it today, announcing something of a refresh to its Intuos pen-and-tablet line. From a hardware perspective, not much is changing with the launch of the Intuos 3D, as users will still be getting a medium-sized Intuos with a 6-inch by 8-inch active area. The real shake up comes in the form of partnerships that transform the Intuos into a product designed to be an all-in-one solution for those looking to create and eventually publish or print 3D designs.

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Wacom has announced a slew of new devices at IFA 2016, attempting to bridge the gap between taking notes on physical paper and storing them in the digital space. This new product line includes two new smartpads - the Bamboo Slate and Bamboo Folio - and a new stylus dubbed the Bamboo Omni. As if that weren't enough, the company is also launching refreshes of its existing Bamboo Solo and Bamboo Duo styli.

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The following is an Ergotron WorkFit-D Sit-Stand Desk Review - with a couple of Ergotron add-ons. Earlier this year it was apparent that my working situation was not going to be able to work any longer. I had neck pain as well as upper and lower back pain from the less-than-optimal working conditions I was providing for myself. I decided to seek out the folks at Ergotron to take some of their products out for a spin. I told them my situation and we decided that it'd make sense for me to test out several items: the WorkFit-D Sit-Stand Desk, Neo-Flex Underdesk Keyboard Arm, and the LX Dual Side-by-Side Arm for monitors.

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The Wacom Cintiq 27 QHD Touch is what I expected the high end of the digital illustration device world to be. It doesn't feel as "magical" as the iPad Pro, but it's a whole lot more powerful - and professional. It feels like a real professional piece of equipment, something that's been perfected over several iterations - a tool that a top artist would buy again and again. While (as always) there are some changes I might make if I wanted the ideal touch- and pen-friendly display/tablet, at the moment, this is as good as it gets.

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This week the fellow that introduced us to Microsoft Ink at BUILD 2016 also let loose word of a new writing tool. This stylus, he somehow neglected to mention onstage, will be made in collaboration with Wacom, and will "work across a huge number of pen enabled devices." This word comes from Microsoft's Bryan Roper who also mentions that this is "something big", as it were.

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When Microsoft switched to N-Trig for the Surface Pro 3 and again for the new Surface Pro 4, it necessarily had to push Wacom to the background. While the higher profile maker of graphics tools might not have been affected dramatically, it became less the talk of the town when it came to stylus-enabled Windows tablets. But with Toshiba's new dynaPad 2-in-1, Wacom is again front and center. Even Microsoft dubs it a digital notebook, putting emphasis on its writing and drawing talents, thanks to Wacom's active digitizer.

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Wacom has just announced the Bamboo Spark, a pen and notepad solution that turns handwritten notes into digital files. Users that prefer a physical writing experience on real paper can take notes or doodle just like they're used to, but don't need to worry about keeping and organizing the paper afterwords. Bamboo Spark features a real ink pen that communicates with a "smart folio" with an Electro-Magnetic Resonance board, tracking pen strokes and sending them to an iOS or Android device via Bluetooth.

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Macs and OS X have a reputation of being the preferred hardware and platform of designers, but quite ironically, there is not a single official Apple computer that comes with an integrated Wacom display. Perhaps Apple considers it unnecessary because Wacom's Cintiq displays work perfectly with Macs anyway. But there is still a class of people that want to get the best of both worlds, like this latest hack that puts Apple's latest operating system inside a Cintiq Companion 2 tablet, though not everything is fine and dandy just yet.

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Wacom has introduced a new Cintiq tablet for artists and related professionals, the Cintiq 13HD touch. This joins the maker's other myriad of slates (including those we saw during CES), giving many of the features users have come to expect alongside a relatively small display and a stand upon which the device can be propped up. Those interested won't have to wait long to get their hands on the device: it arrives early this month, though an exact day hasn't yet been provided.

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