Wacom introduces Bamboo Fun for digital creativity

A more natural tool to express creative ideas

Wacom today launches Bamboo Fun, an advanced input device for drawing, painting, sketching and writing, as well as retouching photographs on a computer. Ideal for consumers keen to develop their creative skills and amateur photographers, Bamboo Fun offers an intuitive way of working digitally with creative software. Bamboo is a more natural, vibrant and creative way of using technology to express ideas and to communicate in a more personal and unique way.

Bamboo Fun has a stylish, contemporary, white design and comes in two wide-format sizes, small (overall tablet size 210 x 194 x 11 mm, active area size 148 x 92 mm) and medium (overall tablet size 280 x 235 x 11 mm, active area size 217 x 135 mm). The small-sized tablet is also available in silver, while the medium-sized tablet also comes in an elegant black. All models include a precision, wireless mouse to be used with the tablet.

As part of the package, Corel Painter Essentials 3* – a simple-to-use and powerful painting application is included in both sizes. Premium photo editing software is also included: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 for PC (Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 for Mac)* with medium-sized Bamboo Fun tablets, and Ulead PhotoImpact 12 SE with small-sized Bamboo Fun tablets. These software bundles provide the ideal combination of digital imaging hardware and software to optimize creativity in a simple, intuitive way.

Bamboo Fun is easy to use and with a few strokes of the digital pen and its advanced pressure-sensitive resolution, digital images and photos can be easily edited; red-eye in photographs can be precisely removed and the smallest of imperfections can be accurately adjusted. Paintings, sketches or drawings can be given a more authentic look, as the pressure-sensitive pen enables strokes of varying degrees of thickness to be applied.

Bamboo Fun also unlocks powerful pen-based features, including intelligent handwriting recognition found in current operating systems, particularly Microsoft Windows Vista and Mac OS. Personal touches, such as notes in documents or signatures at the end of emails, can be added, providing an enhanced and personalized way of using the computer at home or at work.

The four programmable ExpressKeys on the tablet itself can be assigned with everyday shortcuts such as cut and paste. Using the ExpressKeys together with the pen provides an efficient way of working so that the best possible results can be achieved quickly and without difficulty. Bamboo Fun also has a new Touch Ring that makes zooming and scrolling easier.

The ergonomically-designed, cordless and battery-free digital pen matches the tablet in color and has two separate buttons, which can be configured as required. For quick corrections, the pen can simply be flipped upside down to use the pressure-sensitive eraser at the other end, similar to a real-world pencil. The pen has 512 levels of pressure sensitivity to precisely edit images in an easy and convenient way.

Bamboo Fun carries a Microsoft certification of ‘Certified for Vista’, however each tablet also supports Macs.

A recent, independent study recommends that due to the significant reduction in muscle tension when using a pen tablet, mouse users – with or without typical RSI complaints – should switch to using a pen tablet as often as possible. The RSI study is available to download from the ergonomics section on the Wacom website - http://www.wacom-asia.com/technical/ergonomics/ergonomics.html.

More information about Bamboo can be found at www.wacom-asia.com/bamboo.
(Download digital press kit including images here.)

* Corel Painter Essentials 3 is available in English, Traditional Chinese and Korean language versions for PCs and Macintoshes. Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 for PC (4.0 for Mac) is only available in English. Ulead PhotoImpact 12 SE is only available in English for PCs.

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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 Digital Solutions), Australia (Wacom Australia Pty, Ltd) and Singapore (Wacom Singapore Pte. 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.

Wacom's patented digital interface technology, called Penabled®, is also offered as an integrated solution to strategic partners. Most Tablet PC manufacturers count on the advanced features and reliability of Penabled technology to deliver a superior pen experience. Penabled technology is also playing an essential role in the development of leading-edge mobile devices.

For further information please contact appress [at] wacom.co.jp