Wacom brings Bamboo tablets to US

Wacom today brought its Bamboo line of computer tablets from Japan to the US, hoping to spread pen input to a wider audience. The Bamboo Fun is a new addition targeted explicitly at home users who might previously have avoided tablets but now want one for sketching or editing photos; the device comes with four large, friendly programmable buttons and ships in softer colors like blue and white as well as the more conservative black and silver. Small and medium versions will also be available depending on the need, Wacom says.

Every model comes with a touch-sensitive scroll ring and a bundled mouse. Mac and Windows users also receive creative software such as Photoshop Elements, Nik Color Efex Pro 2, and Corel Painter Essentials 3. All colors will be available later in September at $100 for a small version and $200 for the larger size.

The company's basic but more professional-looking Japanese version will also be available in North America. Simply labeled the Bamboo, the black tablet comes only in a small shape and is targeted at users who prefer a pen for handwriting recognition with Inkwell in Mac OS X or in tablet-supporting versions of Windows. It ships this month for $80 without extra software.