Wacom first sparked up its Bamboo range last year, and now there’s two new members to this fast growing creative family.
Last year, we looked at Wacom’s Bamboo Spark, a paper based digital notepad that took anything you wrote and transferred it to your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet.
Now come two new additions to the Bamboo range of “Smartpads”, being the Bamboo Slate and the Bamboo Folio.
Wacom’s sales pitch starts by asking: “How often have you forgotten that important note or lost it in the clutter?”
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Naturally, Wacom wants you to know that “help is here” via its smartpads designed to “help thinkers and doers capture, shape, share and organise ideas on the go.”
Mike Gay, Wacom’s Senior Consumer VP said: “Our Bamboo smartpads are made to naturally fit into any workflow, fusing the ease of writing naturally on pen and paper with digital technology to transform thoughts to ideas.
“The smartpads provide a proactive solution for those that are looking to organise and protect their valuable ideas as they bring them from paper to the cloud – whether that’s at home, at school or at work.”
So, what do the two new smartpads offer for “on-the-go note taking and idea generating?”
We’re told that both smartpads “allow users to turn their handwritten notes or sketches into digital files with a simple push of a button.
“The use of Wacom’s Inkspace app and other integrated cloud services, offer easy editing and access from anywhere across the globe.”
We’re also reminded that “Inkspace is the central hub for all digital ink files in the Wacom cloud providing a search function, helping users to manage their handwritten notes.”
As you’d expect, Wacom bills both as being “ideal for note takers and idea creators – whether it’s the business traveller that needs a professional notepad to capture and organise meeting notes and ideas, students that jot down and pack their notes from class to study sessions to home, or teachers that need to record and protect their valuable lesson plans.”
Of course, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and other stylus-driven tablet makers will tell you exactly the same thing, but those hardware based tablets are much more expensive than Wacom’s Bamboo solutions, which should work with the smartphone, tablet, PC or Mac you’re using right now, rather than forcing you to spend in the high hundreds or thousands to get native stylus-based capability.
Wacom explains that the difference between both new models, saying that “Bamboo Slate is a small version with no cover and a lower price tag, suitable for the at home “hobbyist” whilst the Bamboo Folio provides an added benefit for those looking to easily and safely transport their notes and ideas.”
In addition, the textured cover of the Folio “keeps everything in place and provides stylish protection with extra slots for business cards and other documents.”
The sales pitch of good reasons to buy up a Bamboo smartpads continues, with Wacom assuring its pads “provide peace of mind so you never have to worry about losing a good idea again. Store and organise notes in Wacom Inkspace or easily add them to DropBox, Evernote or OneNote from a smartphone. Files can also be saved locally (up to 100 pages) on both Bamboo Folio and Slate.”
The explanation continues, with Wacom writing that “once handwritten notes are converted to digital files, users can download the Bamboo Paper app to easily highlight notes to review with classmates or add annotations to a presentation.
“With a paid subscription to Wacom Inkspace Plus, users can also convert images to vector files and collaborate in real-time mode, so friends and colleagues can watch ideas come to life remotely as they are drawn on paper.”
So, what is the price and availability for both models?
Wacom advises that both are available at retail via Scorptec in Australia, Noel Leeming and PB Technologies in New Zealand, and Wacom’s own local official online store.
Australian prices are as follows:
- Bamboo Slate, small - $189.00
- Bamboo Slate, large - $219.00
- Bamboo Folio, small - $219.00
- Bamboo Folio, large - $289.00
Here are two official videos from Wacom to further illuminate and illustrate both new models.