Apple has been awarded a new patent for a stylus that’s not so dumb.
Apple
and styluses don’t go hand in hand, at least they didn’t use to. The
company’s late co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was very vocal about his
stance against styluses, not one Apple mobile device released after the
first iPhone came with a stylus, the company used multi-touch
touchscreen displays to allow users to simply control devices using just
their fingers. However, that doesn’t mean that Apple hasn’t been
keeping an eye on the technology, dreaming up a way to transform the so
called “dumb styluses” into smart ones. Back in 2011 the company filed a
patent for the “iPen,” a stylus with an orientation sensor in it.
The
US Trademark and Patent Office has now awarded the patent to Apple. It
details how the iPen is going to be different from a normal stylus, the
orientation sensor in iPen would enable it to determine orientation
relative to the touch screen surface. The sensor would provide for more
accurate reproduction of input, because data from the sensor can be used
to adjust darkness and width of the line that’s displayed on the
surface. The experience will mimic that of a pencil, if its pressed into
the side of the tip and a line is draw, that line will be different in
width and darkness as opposed to a line that’s draw with the pen resting
square on the tip, thus making the use of a stylus much more real and
authentic.
It might be rumored in the coming days that the iPhone phablet,
which has been consistently rumored for a couple of months now, may
come with a stylus. It may be believed that the stylus will be developed
for that particular product. In reality, there’s nothing pointing
towards an imminent launch of an Apple product that uses styluses. Apple
may very well have the patent under its belt, but that doesn’t mean the
iPen will necessarily see the light of day.
Source: USTPO