&149;Samsung Galaxy Note
I checked out theSamsung Galaxy Note at CESand Ill admit that the 5.3-inch screen and tricked-out stylus arent for everyone. But I was generally impressed with the performance of the device. I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I found some useful applications for the S Pen. For example, you can take a screenshot of a map and use the S Pen to trace the route that youll be taking directly onto the map. You could also take a screen shot of an article and make notes in the margins, highlighting and underlining excerpts.
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This may sound crazy, but the stylus is more natural for a guy like me who spent his school years with a pen or pencil in my hand, he said.
And why was that? Necessity. The early tablets used resistive touch screens, which required users press down hard on the screen to register an input. And a finger simply wasnt enough to do the trick. But in the mid-2000s, capacitive screens started to come on the scene. And tablets using this technology didnt need the stylus to make accurate inputs into the device.
Vilke said he uses the stylus about 60 percent to 70 percent of the time now, because its just easier jailhouse heat 3 dand more natural for him to use than his finger. And because there is a built-in slot for the stylus, he hasnt lost it.
Politics and Law
Swype with a pen is genius, he said. Your hand barely moves. And I can whip out text way ster now, since I dont move my hand all over the screen.
Back in the day when tablets first arrived on the scene, styluses (or styli, if you prefer) were all the rage. Over two decades ago, Microsoft introducedWindows for Pen Computing. Then there were the pen-based tablet PCs from IBM, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and others. And they all used a stylus for input into the tablet.
&149;Apple seeks stylus patents
commentaryThe justices have ruled that GPS tracking requires a warrant. Now Congress needs to act to balance privacy and public safety regarding location data.
The Samsung Galaxy Note is one proof point that the technology has improved. And its not just the stylus that has improved, but the way in which Samsung has packaged the software to use the input from the stylus is also more advanced. In November, Samsung released a software development kit that will allow developers to add S-Pen input to their apps.
One of those describes a stylus that uses a heated conductive tip. The stylus can be charged when inserted into the touchscreen device for storage. And the second patent describes a stylus that could be used to write on any suce and then it displays whats written or drawn on a separate computing device, kind of like aLivescribe pen.
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Still, if Samsungs stylus technology is better than the technology used in other products, or its able to integrate the input method more seamlessly into the product, it could strike a chord with all those artists looking to add a stylus to the iPad. After all, if leg warmers can make a comeback, certainly the tablet stylus can become vogue again, too.
Like Apple, Samsung has not offered its own stylus with its Galaxy Tab, GoogleAndroidtablets. But it recently introduced the Galaxy Note, an oversized smartphone, that uses its S Pen stylus technology as one method of input.
But Samsung and others looking to bring the stylus back will have to be careful about how they introduce and market these products. Recent products highlighting the stylus as an important feature, such as HTCs Flyer tablet, have been big commercial flops. Of course, this may have been due to other issues, such as pricing and overall device performance. But its still something to consider: most products marketed for their stylus have not been hits.
Cutting Edge
Clearly stylus technology has come a long way since the days of tablets using Windows for Pen Computing. Back then the technology was immature. Early handwriting recognition technology was inaccurate. And there werent enough good applications to make a business case for owning such an expensive device.
Vilke said he was impressed with how Samsung integrated the input from the stylus into the device, allowing users to double-tap the screen to enter the note-taking app or allowing people to temporarily hide their note while referencing an e-mail. He was also impressed by the the screen capture functionality. But he said his vorite thing about the device is Swype, a keyboard application for Android devices that allows people to type much ster by swiping keys on the virtual keypad. Vilke said the application works even better with the stylus than it does with his finger.
&149;Samsung Galaxy Note cartoonist: The stylus is mightier than the pen
roundupThe maker of iPads and iPhones is hardly alone among tech companies that rely heavily on Chinese ctories under scrutiny for labor practices. But its become the flashpoint.
The Digital Home
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And perhaps, even Jobs and his beloved Apple may have had a slight change of heart when it comes to the stylus. In July 2011, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Officepublished two of Apples patent applicationsrelating to stylus input on capacitive touch screens and other suces.
If you see a stylus, they blew it.
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Marguerite Reardon has been covering the telecom beat for more than a decade and knows more about wireless and IP networking than she cares to admit. She has been a senior writer for CNET News since 2003, covering all things wireless and broadband related from iPhone launches to major telephone company mergers to IPTV developments. She often appears as an expert on news networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, NPR, and the BBC. Maggie loves visiting CNETs headquarters in San Francisco, but shes an East Coaster at heart, living and working in Manhattan.
Samsung Galaxy Note
I think a pen intece continues to make a lot of sense across a number of screen sizes, like the larger is more obvious of those, Bidan said in the interview. Thats about as specific as I can be without announcing a product.
Cutting Edge
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Marguerite ReardonMarguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies.
I know it may be heresy in the tech world to say that Steve Jobs was wrong. But maybe he was. Sure, a stylus or digital pen can get lost between the cushions of the couch. (At least thats what one editor at CNET said happens all the time to her sons Nintendo DS stylus.) But sometimes your finger just isnt enough when it comes to drawing or painting. If it were, then the Mona Lisa would have been a finger-painting.
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Apple
Sometimes artists need a more refined tool. This is probably why third parties have developed their own apps and styli for the iPad--there aredozens on iTunesthat can be used with the iPad to render fine lines for sketches, drawings, photo retouching, and even digital painting.
If Samsung and other developers can translate many of these same apps and functionality into larger tablets, it could find an enthusiastic niche market. And it wont be the only company including a stylus in their products. The Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android comes with stylus support built in, so other tablets may also introduce tablets stylus support. Microsofts upcoming tablet software Windows 8 will also include support for both finger and digital stylus input.
Crave
Ryan Bidan, a product marketing manager for Samsung,told Laptop in an interview published this weekthat that the company may bring the Galaxy Notes S Pen stylus to tablets, along with some 3D gesture technology.
jailhouse heat 3 d Is the tablet stylus a comeback?,It seems like the company just might try to revive this old trend, much like those indie rockers and shionable hipsters of New York City are bringing back bygone shion trends many of us who lived through them the first time wish we could forget.
Stephen Vilke, co-founder and CTO of the mobile startup Framehawk, had been looking for a mobile device with a stylus for a long time. He tried the HTC Flyer when it came out last year, but he said he was disappointed by the accuracy of the pen. And there was nowhere on the device to attach the stylus so he wouldnt misplace it. After seeing the Samsung Note at CES this year, he bought one. And so r, he says, he loves it.
What to make of Samsungs stylus
Then Apple launched theiPadin 2010, which uses a capacitive screen and does not come with a pen or stylus. In ct, Apples late co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs detested the stylus and associated it with iled products. When asked at an Apple event in 2010 if the iPad would ever use one, he spoke of his competitors products:
If indie bands can dress like Fleetwoodcirca 1975, and women in New York City can sport leg warmers like Flashdance extras, why cant Samsung bring back the stylus pen fortabletsand smartphones?
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Technically Incorrect
