The 24″ HD Touch is similar to the version released just a few months ago, with one crucial upgrade: multi-touch controls.

I want one!

I have always been a fan of drawing tablets, and for as long as I can remember, I have had a Wacom full-size tablet on my desk. Indeed, I fitted out our first studio with an 18″ tablet in front of every monitor – they were great for wowing visitors, and the creatives loved using them.

This next-generation offering from Wacom looks like it would be painfully fun to use, as well as a fantastic tool for enhancing the ease and speed of the creative processes.

The Cintiq 24HD touch gives creative professionals the most natural and complete tool for design, video, art and animation. The integration of multi-touch capabilities directly on-screen, along with Wacom’s most advanced pen technology, gives a truly “hands-on” creative experience as you work digitally.

In a press-release, the company’s professional products director explains the main advantage of touch: “the ability to manipulate a 3-D model or pan, zoom and rotate an image with one hand while simultaneously sculpting or sketching with the other.” The 24-inch, 1.07 billion color screen is mounted on a rotating stand that swivels easily to move from upright to tabletop, and comes with a newly upgraded battery-less pen. It’s a more immersive drawing experience, which Wacom claims will close the gap between analog and digital creativity.

Unfortunately, it has not yet reached Australia, and when it does, in the next few months, it is likely to have a price-tag of over AUD$4,000. So I may have to wipe my chin and just keep waiting, impatiently, for the day I can justify upgrading.