One of my favorite products from the Consumer Electronics Show was actually released last month. But it's still pretty new and exceptionally cool: Wacom's Cintiq 12WX pen display, a PC peripheral that lets you draw directly on the screen with a pressure-sensitive pen.
Cintiqs have been around for a long time, and have been one of the best digital tools an artist could have--they replicate the natural feel of working with pen and paper in a way that no other input device can.
But they've been pricey--two grand and above--and big, bulky beasts that needed lots of room. (I have the 21ux model and love it, but it occupies an entire small desk all by itself.)
At $999, the 12UX is half the price of any previous Cintiq, making it a plausible purchase for a lot more serious amateur artists. But the price is less interesting than the tablet's design, which bears little resemblance to any previous Cintiq. It's the first Cintiq you'd describe as sleek--it's .67" thick, compared to 1.8" for the 21UX model. Actually, in terms of form factor, it looks more like Wacom's Intuos tablets, which don't have displays, than the other Cintiqs.
Earlier Cintiqs have versatile but bulky stands; this one has a very simple one that folds flush with the tablet when you're not using it, letting you hold the whole tablet in your lap to draw or stow it in a laptop bag.
The 12WX's LCD display looks good; the pen has 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity, just as with the pricier Cintiqs. The only downside to this device I can think of compared to its pricier predecessors is the screen size--at 12.1", with 1280-by-800 resolution, it's more akin to a small piece of paper than the giant surface that other Cintiqs give you. (The 21UX's 21.3" display provides almost twice as many pixels.) That means you're much more likely to need to scroll around when drawing or working in Photoshop, reducing the natural feel.
I asked Wacom if they plan to release a Cintiq with the 12WX's thin profile, but with a larger screen; they were noncommital. I'd love to see one with a screen that provided a bit more in the way of real estate and pixels, but the 12WX remains impressive. I'll bet a lot of people who thought they wanted an Intuos tablet without a screen will splurge on one of these instead, and be happy they did.
Here, by the way, is a quick video in which my colleague Ed Albro takes a look at the new Cintiq....
That was funny. Thanks.
Strange, one would expect those airports to go for reliability and security, and choose Red Hat, Suse Linux or Ubuntu LTS.
Windows on my phone would hold no attraction for me. I prefer to wait until Linux operated phones hit the market (by the end of this year). I would thoroughly dislike viruses and spyware on my phone.
Greetz, Pjotr.