Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 1, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
With Intuos4 Wireless, Wacom introduces a product that many have already been eagerly anticipating: a professional pen tablet that works with wireless Bluetooth technology. Intuos4 Wireless is aimed at creatives who edit digital content - such as photographers, illustrators, designers and fine artists - and who appreciate both the benefits of wireless technology and the precise working method and comfortable operation of Wacom’s professional pen tablets. Intuos4 Wireless offers the freedom to move around and work in a room without being connected to the computer by a cable. Intuos4 Wireless is therefore the ideal tool for creative sessions with multiple participants. Its medium size also fits into most common laptop bags, making it the perfect input solution for mobile creatives.
By combining the successful Intuos4 pen-tablet concept with wireless Bluetooth technology, Wacom offers users maximum flexibility and freedom as well as the greatest possible operating comfort for drawing, editing, painting, retouching or working with a computer in general. Intuos4 Wireless thus delivers the intuitive and natural operating experience for which the Intuos4 product brand stands.
Intuos4 and Bluetooth
Bluetooth enables stable connections over distances of up to ten metres. In combination with Bluetooth-enabled desktop or laptop computers, Intuos4 Wireless offers maximum mobility and freedom at home, in the office or even during virtual meetings. The pen tablet can be conveniently charged directly from the computer via USB connection.
Innovative design for improved workflow and increased productivity
Whether on the move, at home or in the workplace, its slim and ergonomic design makes Intuos4 Wireless the ideal creative tool for comfortable work with digital media. It is available in one size (medium) and has an asymmetrical design equally suitable for left- and right-handed users. The Touch Ring and freely programmable ExpressKeys are positioned on one side of the tablet and can thus be conveniently operated by the user’s non-pen-holding (non-dominant) hand. The ExpressKeys allow users to place their most frequently used commands within finger reach, thereby making a major contribution to improved workflow and greater productivity. The illuminated OLED displays inform the user at all times about the current function assigned to each ExpressKey. As assignments are application-specific, the display changes as soon as the user switches to another application. To switch from right- to left-handed use, the user simply rotates the entire tablet by 180 degrees and uses the Wacom driver software to align the illuminated icons accordingly.
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The customised Touch Ring can control up to four different functions in any application. A button in the centre of the ring switches between functions such as zooming, scrolling, adjusting brush size and moving the “canvas”. The current position of an LED on the Touch Ring surface indicates the function being used.
Not least because of this extensive range of functions, Intuos4 Wireless is the perfect tool for individual, ergonomic work - without disruptive cables.
The Intuos4 Grip Pen
The Grip Pen supplied with Intuos4 Wireless uses Wacom’s proprietary Tip Sensor technology. The smallest pressure the pen detects approaches zero (one gram). This enables the highest sensitivity ever delivered by an Intuos pen: even the lightest touches are recognised, providing the same writing and drawing feel, response and result as traditional tools such as brushes, pens and markers.
The Intuos4 pen also distinguishes 2,048 pressure levels, thereby doubling pressure-sensitivity resolution compared with the previous series. Intuos4 thus improves responsiveness and expands creative control options in software applications that support pressure sensitivity. The Intuos4 Grip Pen offers a pressure-sensitive eraser and two freely programmable side switches that can execute commands such as double-click or right-click. Intuos4 Wireless is supplied with a practical attachable pen holder in which the pen can be stored safely when not in use.
Intuos4 Wireless pen holder
A balanced desktop pen holder not only provides convenient and safe storage for the pen, but when unscrewed also offers space for additional pen nibs and the nib-removal tool. Intuos4 includes standard, felt, brush and flexible nibs. This allows the drawing and writing behaviour of various traditional drawing instruments to be simulated.
Custom software package
When purchasing Intuos4 Wireless, the user can choose one of three high-quality creative applications from Adobe, Autodesk and Corel. The user makes the choice by downloading an application. Intuos4 users also benefit from major upgrades to the powerful, user-friendly driver software: precision mode and radial menus, for example, enable even more detailed and comfortable work.
Optional accessories
To enable the best possible pen-tablet performance, Wacom has designed a range of optional accessories. These include various kinds of pens. The Intuos4 Art Pen, for example, supports the rotation function in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel Painter 11, thereby enabling natural brush effects - just like a calligraphy pen. The also-available Airbrush has a shape and finger-wheel control similar to a traditional airbrush and enables spray patterns to be created and defined in certain creative programmes.
Price and availability
Intuos4 Wireless will be available from the end of March 2010 at a price of 399.90 euros (including VAT).
