A patent received by Samsung in Korea could mean a thinner design for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The patent awarded to the manufacturer, replaces the digitizer for the S-Pen with a number of sensors that use ultrasound. Three of the sensors record two-dimensional data, while four sensors record three-dimensional data.
Samsung patent replaces the digitizer with a ultrasound
The use of an ultrasound pen is not entirely new, as a similar technology can be found on the Qualcomm Snapdragon MDP 805 Tablet, a slate for developers that we told you about back in April. While that tablet is costly, use of ultrasound to replace the digitizer should allow Samsung to knock a few bucks off the price of the phablet.
Another advantage to using ultrasound is that it can slim down the device by as much as a millimeter. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is 8.3mm thick, so losing a millimeter there could really produce a nice svelte profile for an upcoming version of the Galaxy Note. However, it might be too late in the game for Samsung to use this patent for 2014, so we might have to wait for the Galaxy Note 5 to see a slimmed down phablet from Samsung.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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