Samsung, mobile phone maker and technology extraordinaire, is expanding its business by investing 5% in the popular Wacom brand. Wacom, as you may be aware, is a manufacturer of digital surfaces and styli, such as the Bamboo computer tablet that is used worldwide by photographers and graphic designers.
Samsung has noted that Wacom has worked with them to develop the stylus interface for their ever-popular line of Galaxy smartphones in the past. Wacom technology is also being used to power the multitude of Windows 8 smartphones that are arriving on the market, and Samsung hopes to capitalize on this with their investment. Although the investment is small, Samsung doesn't totally discount the possibility of buying more of Wacom's stock should the sales of Windows 8 tablets prove very profitable.
So what could this mean for photography and graphic design? Given Wacom's obvious prowess in digital tablet and stylus technology, as well as Samsung's line of successful and very powerful mobile platforms, we could see more post-production taking place on-the-go rather than on a desktop or laptop computer. With powerful editing apps already on our phones and tablets, such as Nik's SnapSeed, using a stylus and touch-based screen could allow for plenty of what Photostop and Lightroom do, basically in the palms of our hands with pen-precise editing.
See our current line of Wacom's tablet and stylus products on our Unique Photo website here.