A new Samsung patent has been discovered that suggests the company is looking to launch a new version of the S Pen in the future. While the most recent S Pen that launches with the Galaxy Note 7 has been tweaked ever so slightly and is the most recent version of the tool with features like waterproofing, the patent displays plans for an S Pen that comes with an integrated speaker at the top of the pen opposite of the end that interacts with the device’s display. For the current S Pen, this part of the pen is the button that a user can press to eject the S Pen from the housing silo on the Galaxy Note 7.
It’s worth noting that the patent itself actually refers to the pen as the “New Galaxy Note Pen” which means that Samsung could be changing up the name of the pen altogether, although there is nothing to confirm that Samsung has plans to switch the naming scheme of the S Pen. Having said that, calling it the Galaxy Note Pen would make more sense as it would be indistinguishable as the stylus meant for a Galaxy Note device and would essentially be more streamlined along with device series name.
It’s said that the speaker on the Galaxy Note Pen would replace the speaker grille that sits at the bottom left corner of the phone on the back. The patent displays that there would be an internal Galaxy Note speaker module that would output the audio through the speaker at the top of the pen when the Galaxy Note Pen was inserted into the opening where it is kept when not in use. When the pen is removed, it’s described that the speaker module would then be able to transmit the audio through the opening where the pen is stored, and would presumably play through the speaker on the pen. The patent doesn’t clearly state whether or not all sound would output from the speaker on the pen when the pen is removed from its storage space on the phone, or whether it would only be specific sounds, such as key tones, and the tones from other buttons when pressed. There is also no guarantee that Samsung actually plans to release the Galaxy Note Pen that is displayed in this patent. This is not the first patent for a new type of Note pen that Samsung has filed for, as a patent that was discovered earlier this year pointed to the possibility of an S Pen that could bend at a hinge to work as a possible stand for the device.
