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HP’s latest x360 Chromebooks ship with universal stylus compatibility
HP has announced its updated x360 Chromebooks, which feature a 360-degree hinge, 4GB of memory and 32GB of storage. More notable, though, is the Chromebooks' compatibility with the Universal Stylus Initiative's standard. USI 1.0 enables stylus compatibility across any touchscreen device that has integrated the technology, meaning you'll be able to use the same stylus for your smartphone, tablet and touchscreen computer.
A brief first look at Apple's seventh-generation iPad
It didn't receive much lip service at today's keynote, but Apple has unveiled a new 10.2-inch iPad, the seventh generation in the company's long line of tablets. This also means Apple has axed the last 9.7-inch model, a size that once defined the iPad line. Like the device that it replaces, this new 10.2-inch tablet supports Apple Pencil input, though that writing implement continues to be sold separately. This time, though, the entry-level iPad also gets Apple's Smart Connector, allowing you to snap on Apple's $159 keyboard folio, also sold separately. In my brief demo, I was most struck by how bright the screen is. At 500 nits it doesn't compare to a new flagship iPhone (one device announced today tops out at 1,200 nits), but I'm old enough to remember when 500 nits was the spec on high-end notebooks. This is a $329 tablet, cheaper than even most low-end laptops. The new iPad is up for pre-order today, with shipments starting September 30th. As stated, it starts at $329, but if you want LTE too, then the base price goes up to $459. All told, built-in storage ranges from 32GB to 128GB.
Apple’s budget $329 iPad gets a 10.2-inch screen
Bloomberg's predictions proved accurate at Apple's September iPhone event held in Cupertino on Tuesday. The company announced on stage that the iPad's 9.7-inch base model will slightly increase in size, to 10.2 inches, for its 7th generation. This move follows April's revamping of the iPad Mini and iPad Air lines.
The Galaxy Note 10 S Pen is also a wand that controls your phone
Today, Samsung confirmed a poorly kept secret. The Galaxy Note 10 S Pen will offer gesture controls, or "Air Actions." This goes one step further than the Note 9 S Pen, which acts as a remote control. Now, you'll be able to control the Note 10 (and Note 10+) with a wave of the stylus. The S Pen will allow you to activate shortcuts and perform specific actions by drawing shapes above the screen. As you can with the Galaxy Tab S6, you'll be able to swish-and-flick to switch between front- and rear-facing cameras and toggle through camera modes.
Logitech's new stylus is built for VR
Architects, product designers and concept artists just got a ground-breaking new tool in their creative arsenals: Logitech's VR Ink Pilot Edition, the world's first VR stylus that draws on both two-dimensional surfaces and in the air in three-dimensional room-scale spaces. Unlike previous iterations of similar technology -- usually unwieldy controllers -- this stylus puts all the power in the designer's fingertips for complete precision and accuracy.
Someone at Samsung thinks a stylus with a camera is a good idea
Samsung already jacked up its Galaxy Note 9 stylus with the addition of Bluetooth, now it could be plotting a camera for it too. An S-Pen with an integrated snapper that lets you wirelessly send images to your phone or tablet is laid out in a newly-granted patent, spotted by Patently Mobile. But it won't just be any old camera. The upgraded stylus would boast optical zoom, a feature that most phones tend to skip nowadays in order to stay trim (remember the bulky Galaxy S4 Zoom?). Of course, Samsung also has to think of the privacy implications: chances are, people won't take kindly to users secretly capturing close-ups of them.
Microsoft's Classroom Pen is a smaller Surface Go stylus for kids
Microsoft is aiming to make Windows Ink more useful for kids with the Classroom Pen, a new Surface Go stylus that's easier for smaller hands to hold. It's shorter than the current Surface Pen at four inches long, and there's also a slot at the end for securing it to your computer. There are two buttons on the side, also like the Surface Pen, but there's no eraser on top. Microsoft says the Classroom Pen's writing tip will be durable for kids, and it's replaceable as well (thankfully there's an extra tip included in the box).
Samsung's lightweight Notebook 9 Pen is aimed at creators
Last year at CES 2018, Samsung unveiled the Note 9 Pen, a lightweight 13.3-inch convertible aimed at artists and anyone else who needed decent power with as little weight as possible. The model is back again in a big way, with an all-new design and features that should fix what we didn't like about it before. Most notably, it comes in both 13-inch and 15-inch versions, has more ports and packs a much bigger battery with fast-charging that lets it run for up to 15 hours.
Logitech's Crayon for iPad is available to everyone September 12th
Logitech's Crayon was a dream for 2018 iPad owners who wanted stylus input without paying a premium for Apple's Pencil, but there was a catch: the schools-only focus ruled it out for anyone besides students. You won't be shut out for much longer, though, as Logitech is making the Crayon available through Apple's retail stores on September 12th. It won't be as much of a bargain, unfortunately -- it'll cost $70 for everyday users instead of the $50 for schools -- but it could be a better choice if that extra $30 for a Pencil seems unnecessary.
A cheat sheet for the new Galaxy Note 9 S Pen
In its quest to lure more users to the flagship Note 9 phones, Samsung imbued its S Pen with many new powers. Now in addition to letting you scribble on the screen, the stylus serves as a remote trigger for the Note's camera, letting you launch the app, switch lenses and snap pictures from a distance. However, the new S Pen is not only a camera remote control but also a presentation clicker, a track skipper, a pointer and, at its heart, a very good stylus. Thanks to Samsung's helpful on-screen tips when S Pen remote controls are available, you don't have to dig deep to learn how to use them. But there are a few controls you might not even know exist without a trip to the settings menu. For those who want to get the most out of their S Pen, here's a quick guide.
Samsung brings new controls to the Note 9 with redesigned S Pen
As we geared up for today's Samsung event, the announcement for which teased us with a close-up image of the Galaxy Note 9's S Pen, there's been a fair bit of speculation regarding what new features might be coming with the phone's redesigned stylus. An FCC filing that surfaced last month gave us a peek -- namely that it would be Bluetooth-enabled -- but today we got to see what the S Pen can do and how it works with the Note 9.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 pen will include Bluetooth
Samsung hasn't been shy about hinting that the Galaxy Note 9 launch will focus heavily on the S Pen. Now, however, we have a better idea of what that means. An FCC filing for the Note 9's S Pen has revealed that it'll include Bluetooth, suggesting remote control features. The documents unsurprisingly don't say what those features are, but leaker Ice Universe had previously claimed that the stylus could control music playback and timers. We wouldn't expect anything sophisticated (it's a one-button device without a screen), but it could provide value even if you only rarely intend to draw.
LG's Q Stylus phone is a budget Galaxy Note rival
If you're looking for a stylus-equipped smartphone without spending Galaxy Note 8 cash, LG has an answer with the Q Stylus. As the name suggests, it's equipped with a pen for note-taking, sketching, and touching up images and videos. It has a number of other premium features as well -- you get a metal body with a 6.2-inch FHD+ display, a 16-megapixel rear(max)/8-megapixel front cameras with phase-detect autofocus and the same DTS:X 7.1 channel 3D surround audio found on the V and G series phones.
The updated Stylophone Gen X-1 synth comes to the US
The little Stylophone toy synth has made the rounds since it was first manufactured in 1968. David Bowie used one on "Space Oddity," Kraftwerk played one on "Pocket Calculator" and They Might Be Giants had one on The Else. An updated version of this cult classic, battery-powered synthesizer — the Stylophone Gen X-1— was announced last year, and is now available in the US for $70.
Logitech built a $49 digital crayon for the new iPad
Apple's new starter iPad is designed to make drawing more accessible, but the $89-plus it takes to buy the official Pencil for that iPad is a lot to swallow for cash-strapped educators. That's where Logitech might help: it's introducing a $49 Crayon accessory for the new iPad that should put art and handwriting within the reach of more schools. It promises low lag, tilt support and sub-pixel precision with an 8-hour battery life, and won't need pairing to get started. The most glaring omission is the lack of pressure sensitivity -- this isn't for pros. Still, it's evident that Apple is comfortable allowing Pencil alternatives if it means getting more iPads into classrooms.
Apple's latest patent teases a Pencil that can draw in mid-air
Apple's next Pencil could eschew the iPad Pro entirely. The Cupertino company has filed a patent for a stylus that can be used on any flat surface, and maybe even in the air, as spotted by Dutch site TechTastic. The patent title being "Content Creation Using Electronic Input Device on Non-electronic Surfaces" gives us a few ideas of how Apple might pitch this. Which is great considering how light on details the rest of the patent, filed last July and made public in January, is.
This $30 iPad stylus senses pressure via headphone jack
Stylus manufacturers have been working hard to replicate the sensation of writing and sketching on tablets over the years, hence the handful of styli that support pressure sensing and palm rejection these days. Unfortunately, these pens don't come cheap, with the Apple Pencil asking for $99 but is still only compatible with the iPad Pro series. Even the other good styli with greater iPad compatibility start at around $50. However, Hong Kong-based GreenBulb has launched a cunning $30 solution dubbed SonarPen on Kickstarter, yet it supports both pressure sensing and palm rejection by making use of the headphone jack. No charging nor wireless connectivity required here, just plug it in and sketch away.
Google backs a single stylus for all your devices
The Universal Stylus Initiative has found a powerful new ally in Google. Mountain View has officially joined the project's top-tier backers, which include Intel and Lenovo, giving it the power to participate in USI's development of an open active stylus standard and to approve its final specifications. A USI stylus will work with any device designed to adopt the standard -- you don't need to configure or to set it up beforehand to be able to use it, and it even remembers your settings even if you switch devices.
Samsung's 2018 Notebook 9 lineup includes MacBook, Surface challengers
Last year Samsung's Notebook 9 laptop kept it simple with a standard thin-and-light design that got the important things right, but didn't sport flashy features like a high-res display or hybrid design. Earlier this year the Pro edition added a folding hinge for 2-in-1 tablet use and a stylus, and next year the company will fully revamp its lineup with four new devices. The new Notebook 9 Pen is ready to take on Surface devices with its built-in battery-free S Pen stylus, to go with a "thoughtfully designed" 2-in-1 hybrid laptop/tablet. The 13-inch devices comes with an 8th generation Intel Core i7 CPU, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, but weighs just 2.2 pounds thanks to its "Metal12" magnesium-aluminum alloy.
How Microsoft embraced 'messy’ creativity with Windows Ink
Windows Ink isn't Microsoft's first stab at bringing stylus support to PCs. That would be Windows for Pen Computing in the early '90s, followed by Windows XP Tablet Edition. But Ink is the company's most successful attempt. It made stylus support a core part of Windows 10, and it's a big reason you're seeing so many computer makers shipping digital pens of their own. While the company's renewed push into the space with its hybrid Surface tablets seemed baffling at first, it's ended up looking like a prescient move. It even convinced Apple to compete with the iPad Pro's Pencil.
