Apple is certainly a company that is forward looking, and with patent filings that include heated, wireless stylus concepts for their hugely popular iPad tablet and iPhone, you can’t blame them for ranking up so high in the desirable list when it comes to gizmos. Apple hadn’t included styluses in their devices to date, but that does not mean the company had not toyed with the idea before. Imagine a concept like a “heated stylus” – that might result in a more precise interaction, where you can actually enter data on an iOS device without the need to touch the device at all.
The filing itself is titled Stylus For Touch Sensitive Devices, where the stylus sports a conductive tip which may be heated, resulting in a more consistent interaction between the capacitive-sensors that are found in an iPhone or iPad. Needless to say, this stylus will come with a rechargeable battery (making it the umpteenth device that needs juice whenever you travel), where you can make sure it is fully charged via a docking station.
As for the second filing known as a “Communicating Stylus,” this stylus will see a position sensing device thrown in – and we’re talking about an accelerometer here. There is also a wireless transmitter that sends positional data, while a receiver will make sure the communication channel remains open between the stylus and the device.
No idea on whether Apple will see the need for such accessories down the road – what do you think?
Filed in . Read more about Apple Inc, Patent, Patents and Stylus.