Oct. 13--Technology bloggers and industry leaders are abuzz with speculation about two rumored tablet computers from Apple and Microsoft that could revolutionize the PC market like the iPhone did for mobile phones.

Somewhat hidden at the center of the technology trend is Wacom, a Japanese company that employs about 100 workers at its American headquarters in Vancouver. Outside of Apple, Wacom is the leading developer of multitouch technology, the function that gives tablet PCs their user-friendly appeal.

In essence, a tablet PC is a notebook computer with a touchscreen display instead of a keyboard. Wacom says it supplies about 90 percent of the market with the digitizing technology that turns pen or finger movements into electronic signals on a screen.

Along with its own suite of pen and touch products, including the recently released Bamboo line, the company's technology is incorporated into various touchscreen devices made by Fujitsu, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo, among others.

That means if PC companies find success with new multitouch tablets, Wacom would be at the center of a revolution in how people interact with their computers.

The Columbian recently visited Wacom's Vancouver office to discuss the future of multitouch technology and its new Bamboo products. The conversation is distilled here for our readers.

What is Bamboo?

Wacom's second generation of graphic tablets, released in September, connect to a computer's USB port and operate like a mouse allowing users to navigate and interact with applications using their fingers or a battery-free, cordless pen. With touch-screen technology similar to the iPhone, users can zoom, scroll, pan or rotate with a touch of their fingers as well as annotate, draw or edit using the pen.

How do multitouch and pen tablets work?

A grid of circuits and electrodes below the screen senses changes in electrical current produced by fingertips or the pen. Each point on the tablet's grid corresponds to a spot on the computer screen. That means instead of dragging the cursor across the screen like a mouse, you navigate by picking up the pen or your finger and clicking directly on an icon like the display on an ATM machine.

What's the future for multitouch technology?

In the near term Wacom believes multitouch tablets, such as its Bamboo line, will eventually replace the mouse as the primary way people interact with their desktop computers. Holding a pen or touching a screen is more precise and intuitive than pushing around a clunky mouse, said Dennis Hoff, Bamboo product manager for Wacom.