The first thing you must know about the Wacom Bamboo Pad is that its not made out of bamboo.
You may remember back in 2010 that Asus in an attempt to go green released a notebook made from actual bamboo. Those notebooks priced at around $1,000 garnered a lot of attention but has not made any dents in the market place.
Wacom hopes to make a dent by offering a tablet device equipped to handle navigational gestures as well as drawing and handwriting. This content can be uploaded to Macs and PCs as the Bamboo Pad is being positioned as a complimentary device.
Once plugged into any Windows 8 or Windows 7 operated laptop or desktop computer, Bamboo Pad delivers a natural navigation experience to the user.
Rick Peterson, director of consumer products for Wacom Americas, said Bamboo Pad is for people who would love to add a personal signature, a drawing or some handwritten comments to their documents.
Bamboo Pad has an ultra-slim design and the company believes it can be an alternative to traditional computer mice through multi-touch gestures particularly under Windows 8 operating system.
Peterson added that Windows 8 users also have the chance to download the new Bamboo Page app from the Windows Store for free. This software allows a head start into note-taking and light sketching.
Wacom’s two-in-one human interface device makes sure that gestures and handwriting never interfere with each other as the pad automatically recognizes whether a pen or finger are first to come into proximity with the pad’s surface.
Bamboo Pad wireless is priced at $79 and wired is $49. The company expects to ship both models sometime in the latter half of October. Users can choose from four designs. Either a discrete grey with a shiny surface or a basically white pad with one of three fresh and fashionable colour accents in blue, light green or purple (wireless connection only).