Future iPhone, iPads may offer optical stylus support

All Apple devices are known for their excellent touchscreens and gestures and now, it looks as if the future iPhone and iPad may come bundled with an optional stylus accessory. The news by Unwiredview of the recent development that is currently all over the web is based on the patent registration by Apple. Many other companies tried using a stylus on their devices in the past, but that trend seems to have dropped out with the introduction of capacitive touchscreens. This is around the same time that resistive screens, Windows Mobile devices were around. Slowly, stylus-enabled devices disappeared and almost all of the major smartphone brands now rely on capacitive touchscreens. It looks like Apple just might build a device with support for an optical stylus, sometime in the near future. Of course, this is just a patent registration, it doesn’t mean that there will in fact, be physical devices with the stylus implemented.

The optical stylus is said to support haptic feedback as well. Unlike other stylus designs, which are simply plastic or metal pens, the optical stylus will have an optical sensor positioned at its tip. This sensor will detect movements on the screen by sensing the patterns and designs on the device. Another unique feature about this design is that it has a built-in receiver, which receives information from a transmitter built into the iPad. This information includes data about the haptic feedback. If Apple goes ahead with the design, some might call them hypocrites for doing so for the late Steve Jobs didn’t like the stylus and once said “If you see a stylus, they blew it."

The stylus, of course has a number of advantages - it’s more accurate and easier to use. Graphics artists, for example use stylus accessories for drawing and other design purposes. The iPad, for example is a very affordable touchscreen device that with the right hardware and apps can be a very capable tool for those looking at a versatile touchscreen solution. Windows notebooks with touchscreen displays, which have plenty of software for graphics artists, for example are a lot more expensive in comparison to iPads. A sophisticated stylus system for the iPad could be a boon for them, if implemented correctly.