Apple Patent Applications Surface For Stylus Pens On iPad And iPhone

It seems that Steve Jobs and his minions in Cupertino are reversing on the long held beliefs that a stylus isn't required if you get a touchscreen device right. Jobs once quipped on stage during a presentation, "It's like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew it." If you go by that statement then Apple may have blown it since two more patent apps have surfaced that show Apple looking at stylus tech for potential use in its gear.

The two new patents with the one we found back in February make three this year alone. That would seem to be a strong indication that a stylus is coming. Along with the patents come some crude line art that shows one of the devices having a slot where a stylus would store and charge. The first patent app is called "Stylus for touchscreen devices" and describes a simple stylus with a special tip for capacitive screens. It uses a rechargeable battery according to the patent app and the tip can be heated for better interaction between stylus and screen.

The second patent app is more interesting and is called "Communicating Stylus." This patent describes a stylus that could be used to shoot whatever you write on another surface over to the iPad or iPhone. That would mean you could write notes in class or in a meeting and the stylus would shoot the writing over to the Apple gadget. Both of the patents are new having been filed in January 2010.

[via Unwiredview]