Pen Stylus the Next Chapter for Android Tablet Productivity

You thought that with capacitive touchscreens, the world would be rid of pesky stylus pens for good, didn’t you? Well N-trig, a company whose tech has been used on a number of Windows computing products, is eyeing the Android tablet platform as the next venue for pen input, which would include utilizing a stylus for inking, drawing, and digital note taking.

N-trig is arguing that companies can differentiate itself from competitors with a stylus, extending tablet products beyond just content consumption devices will give companies an edge–a strategy that HP has used on its HP Slate 500 Windows tablet, which was released with an active digitizer pen and geared towards enterprise customers. N-trig is saying that adding a pen can cost the company around $50, but would offer improved accuracy and more versatility to the end user.

Another company that’s looking at this space is Adobe. Though the company is taking a wait and see approach as to what types of software that it may release, and when, the prospect is there for more a professional software suite or app–like a scaled down version of Photoshop–that would allow for better photo manipulation thanks to the accuracy of pen input. Adobe Vice President Michael Gough says, “Adobe will follow that, I think, just as much as they lead it. It all depends when the devices are in people’s hands.”

A more productive tablet environment would offer the company more business as it could potentially port some of its best-selling titles from Creative Suite to consumer tablets. Consumer tablets, like the iPad, are more geared at content consumption, which doesn’t offer Adobe much business with consumers.

Casey Pham
Categories: Cellphones, Computers, Gadgets
Tags: Android, stylus, Tablet