Apple's 'Communicating Stylus' for Capturing Digital Versions of Handwritten Notes Wins Patent

[Tech198]

If 3rd party styluses are out there, to fill the gap... and lets face that "filling in the gap" is what we like doing, then why does Apple need to do their own ?

Its like saying "You have to things our way if you get out product", when Apple must know by now their are plenty of other options out there. Not to mention, u just know Apple will not allow some stuff. They've always been like that.

What would be the advantage of using their stylus over any other ? or what could we see as it being as any different?

 

[rowspaxe]

What would be the advantage of using their stylus over any other ? or what could we see as it being as any different?

Third party ipad stylus's are plagued by lag, poor tracking and other artifacts due to the fact that they are not using a dedicated digitizing technology--just using capacitative tech. Thats why nothing on ipad approaches samsung or surface pen performance. Its not even close--the level of denial is palpable

 

[Coarseman]

Looks like Apple patented what they saw Qualcomm demoed years ago and will be releasing with Snapdragon 810 in 2015.

http://youtu.be/X5HeL4Cajfw

Oh yes!
Give me THIS, Apple, please....pretty please...

 

[Mak47]

This isn't a stylus...it could be I suppose, but it's not. And it's brilliant.

A standalone pen that inputs handwritten images into your iPhone/iPad. This means that the surface itself doesn't need to be pinpoint accurate, the writing implement is. If I'm understanding this correctly, you can "write" on anything.

The biggest problem with stylus writing, or finger writing on tablets is the inability to rest your wrist on the surface--which is how we stabilize our hands to write accurately. This means you can write on paper if you want, or on a countertop or wall. This is great for quick notes.

It's even better for poets, songwriters and the like--which I am. I write songs and ideas on napkins, receipt paper, whatever is nearby. They're lost all the time. If this thing would sync that handwriting data with my phone to store for later--or even better, convert it to typed text--it would change my life.

 

[b52hbuff]

No. One of the greatest benefits of digital notes/sketch is the ability to erase and reformat without page wear. This process is an improvement on smart pen products that already exist

I don't understand what you're trying to say.

OneNote is note taking software that runs on variety of platforms, tablets, phones and desktops. When OneNote is run on a tablet computer with an active digitizer, where is the "page wear(sic)"?

An instructor/presenter can use the external monitor or WiDi to project written content for others to see. Then the instructor can share the notebook for others to read and annotate. The notebook can be shared in real time.

So I'm still not getting how this is an advantage...

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The biggest problem with stylus writing, or finger writing on tablets is the inability to rest your wrist on the surface--which is how we stabilize our hands to write accurately. This means you can write on paper if you want, or on a countertop or wall. This is great for quick notes.

It isn't a problem for a tablet with a Wacom or N-Trig digitizer.

Check out the Surface Pro 3 at the Microsoft Store.

 

[rowspaxe]

I don't understand what you're trying to say.

OneNote is note taking software that runs on variety of platforms, tablets, phones and desktops. When OneNote is run on a tablet computer with an active digitizer, where is the "page wear(sic)"?

i stated that "all digital" approaches --like one note--have non destructive erasure and cut/paste and these are major advantages. This analog/digital product lacks that--you cant erase, cut and paste etc.

 

[rowspaxe]

Yep, it's the only way that really makes sense to me and therein lies the problem. I'm in anesthesia and any time I had a "pearl" I would open my case book, flip to "LumLammi" or whatever and jot it down. There would have to be some sort of communication between the book and the pen for that to work digitally - which would be exceptional but not noted in this particular patent. Consequently, I now have an enormous folder now that is too big to carry with me and very time consuming to maintain.

You do bring up an excellent point though. The organization STYLES are obviously out there...I'm just not smart enough to figure out how to translate them.

Thats part of why i dislike the "magic pen" approach--there is a lack of feedback. I see the whole pen tablet thing as being where computer monitors were in 1980--everyone knew it would get better, but no one anticipated retina laptops.

 

[Mr Bigs]

I'm not sure what's unique about this to award it a patent. But Apple has at least 20 patents/patent applications for some sort of smart pen. How long does it take for them to bring something like that to market? You want to really kill off Microsoft Surface? Introduce proper pen support for iPad.

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Yes for the majority of things one does on an iPad a stylus is not needed.

They would need to also add a full OS before that happens.

 

[kdarling]

This is breaking that Steve Jobs barrier for sure....

1. Jobs only said he didn't want to use a stylus as the primary touch input method.

2. He would say anything to sell his products. If his product didn't have a certain feature, that feature was "bad" right up until his product did support it, and then that feature became "magical".

Sorry buddy, but we've decided to go in another direction. I would have thought as a company, Apple could stick to their guns always....

You must be new to Apple They change direction whenever it meets their needs. This is their power, but also a source of frustration at times.

Whats difference few years ago, that suddenly changes now ? ....

More users now have more experience, and higher expectations.

An ideal device would support every kind of input you could imagine, from touch, to pen and brush, to voice and visual gesture recognition.

 

[Renzatic]

2. He would say anything to sell his products. If his product didn't have a certain feature, that feature was "bad" right up until his product did support it, and then that feature became "magical".

Or they "did it right".

Jobs dedication to style and quality, and the thought that computers should be easy to use, is one of the major reasons why Apple is where it's at today. But anything he said in front of an audience should never be taken at face value, because, when speaking in public, he was first and foremost a salesman.

 

[APlotdevice]

If that even just implemented this tech at Apple Store, I'd be happy. Their current method of signing your name on an iPod using your finger is awkward at best.