Motorola's "next-gen" smart stylus for its next 5G flagship could battle the S Pen for supremacy
Ever since 2011 when Samsung unveiled the first Galaxy Note, the S Pen has become the leading digital mobile writing instrument available. And throughout the years the S Pen has improved with every iteration and soon it was able to snap photos remotely, write down notes on the Note even when unlocked, convert handwritten chicken scratch into text, control streaming music, and more.
The stylus died for a period of time as soon as Steve Jobs said "Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus."
With the success of the Galaxy Note series and the S Pen, other manufacturers brought back phones that came out of the box with a matching stylus. This was an accessory that looked to be dead after the late Steve Jobs made fun of it during the unveiling of the OG iPhone 15 years ago.
Sketch of the Motorola smart stylus
On January 9th, 2007, Jobs was discussing how users will navigate the iPhone when the topic of the stylus popped up. "Who wants a stylus?," Jobs asked. "You have to get 'em, put 'em away, you lose 'em. Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus. So let's not use a stylus." And with touchscreen phones becoming the rage, the stylus just sort of disappeared until it resurfaced with the Galaxy Note.
Soon we had the LG Stylo series which featured a stylus, although nowhere as feature-packed as the S Pen. And in 2020, the low-priced Moto G Stylus was born. But now Motorola wants to add a flagship-type stylus to its new flagship phone, the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra. According to XDA, it has heard from a trusted source about two accessories for the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra: the Smart Stylus and the Edge 30 Ultra Folio Case.
Sketch of the front of the Folio Case with its notification display
XDA says that it has seen proof that both exist and created some sketches of them. The Smart Stylus will use Bluetooth to connect to the handset and will support air gestures and wireless charging. It also can be used as an "air mouse." The button on the smart stylus will allow the user to control the media playback on the phone and the device will be able to write messages directly into text bubbles.
XDA's source calls the smart stylus "next gen" and it is obviously not the same digital writing tool found with the low-priced Moto G Stylus (2022). Judging by the description, the smart stylus sounds like a challenger to the Galaxy S22 Ultra's S Pen. When the smart stylus is connected to the phone, a bubble surfaces on the phone's display that shows the status of the accessory.
Removing the stylus from the Folio Case will load a pre-selected app automatically
The bubble will show whether the stylus is charging, and tapping the bubble will show you which of your apps supports the digital writing tool. With the Edge 30 Ultra Folio Case, there is housing on the back for the smart stylus. When the stylus has been out of the case for a while and hasn't been used, the user will receive an alert.
Users can set which app will open automatically when the stylus is removed from its case. Bluetooth will also be enabled automatically when the smart stylus is taken out of its housing on the case. Charging it is as easy as returning the digital writing instrument to the holder on the back of the case.
The Ultra Folio Case has some tricks up its sleeves as well. A strip covering the middle of the front of the case shows the time, the date, and the percentage of remaining battery life on the handset. If a call is received, it can be answered or dismissed without opening the case. By the way, the Folio Case may have a different name by the time it is released.
While the smart stylus and folio case will be released alongside each other, it is not clear whether the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra will also be released at the same time as the accessories.
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