New Cintiq Companion and Cintiq Companion Hybrid for Windows 8 and Android respectively, deliver professional pen-on-screen performance on creative tablets for users longing to work wherever and whenever they want
Staying on top of evolving trends in the creative community and responding to frequent requests from professional customers, Wacom extends 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 and offers everything a customer would expect from Wacom’s Cintiq products. 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 unprecedented 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 and tilt sensitivity.
Make the world your studio - Create anytime, anywhere with Cintiq Companion
Nowadays, creative professionals require high performance hardware and software that enable them to create in a variety of environments – e.g. studios, customer offices, collaborative meetings, coffee shops, planes and trains. The Cintiq Companion supports creative freedom by offering everything necessary for productive art and design work whether in the studio or on the go. Providing an all-purpose, mobile workstation, it is a fully-fledged Windows 8 tablet, powered by a 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor and Intel® HD Graphics 4000 that pack a punch whether designing a character, or retouching a photo. For excellent creative results, Wacom offers two models. One with 8 GB memory and 256 GB SSD with Windows 8 and the other with 8 GB memory, 512 GB SSD with Windows 8 Pro.
"We are pleased that the Cintiq Companion has been designed with the needs of creative professionals in mind. With Wacom, we worked together to select the best combination of features to make it an excellent mobile platform for Adobe® Photoshop®," said Maria Yap, senior director of product management at Adobe. "The Cintiq Companion is optimised for the latest version of Photoshop Creative Cloud ™ and gives creative professionals a way to get out of the studio and create wherever they feel most inspired."
“We are excited to have worked closely with Wacom over the last year to bring the Cintiq Companion to reality” said Chris Silva, Intel director of marketing for premium notebooks. “Intel’s powerful yet compact processors together with Wacom’s expertise in creative pen displays brought to life the Cintiq Companion, a product very different from any other in that it’s designed specifically for people in visual arts who need a professional solution to draw, sketch and paint when mobile.”
Cintiq Companion Hybrid - the digital sketchpad on the go
For the likes of 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 perfect for light, spontaneous work using Android apps. The tablet comes with a powerful Nvidia® Tegra® 4 processor, Android Jellybean and specially designed software such as the new Wacom Creative Canvas for painting and sketching and Wacom Manga Canvas for the first phases of Manga creation. 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 16 GB version and a 32 GB 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 customisable new on-screen controls, ExpressKeys, Rocker Ring and Radial Menu. To enable a truly mobile working style, the Cintiq Companion family packs some impressive mobile communications features such as WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth® (version 4.0 for Cintiq Companion and version 3.0 for Cintiq Companion Hybrid), front/rear HD cameras (2 M pixels/8 M pixels), stereo headset jack and microphone for hosting calls or streaming movies.
As creative professionals require comfort and ergonomics to offset long working hours, an adjustable and detachable stand is also included with both products, offering four working angles – from flat to upright.
“The new Cintiq Companion line enables mobile creatives to carry out their jobs without compromising on the high performance required for delivering professional-grade design and artistic output“, said Rüdiger Spohrer, Vice President Marketing at Wacom Europe GmbH. “This is a truly ground-breaking product line that redefines the way creative professionals work, empowering artists and designers to immerse themselves in their work without being confined to a traditional studio or office.“
Availability and Pricing
The Cintiq Companion is priced at 1649,99 £ (256 GB version) and 1999.99 £ (512 GB version). The Cintiq Companion Hybrid costs 1199.99 £ (16 GB) and 1299.99 £ (32 GB). All prices include VAT. Products will be available in Wacom eStores only from mid of October onwards.