A leaked firmware for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 revealed a number of features supposedly belonging to the S Pen of the soon-to-be-announced Galaxy Note 9. The stylus for the next-generation Galaxy Note phablet was previously spotted on the Federal Communications Commission’s website with a range of Bluetooth capabilities that will allow users to control the Galaxy Note 9 remotely. According to the FCC filing, the S Pen will connect to the Galaxy Note 9 over a 2.4GHz Bluetooth LE connection and allow users to control music or adjust the timer on the phablet.
According to a teardown of the AirCommand app (version 3.0) from the leaked Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 firmware performed by XDA Developers, the S Pen will include a battery of its own and have a set of remote features, including the ability to remotely control the camera shutter, unlock the Galaxy Note 9 when the S Pen is detached from the device, control apps by pressing the S Pen button, and a range of other functions. In other words, the new S Pen will be capable of functioning as a fully standalone Bluetooth controller. It is worth pointing out that the S Pen AirCommand app contained in the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 firmware is also expected to launch with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, so it’s likely that the upcoming Galaxy tablet will also be bundled with the same Bluetooth-enabled S Pen.
In addition to the S Pen’s remote functionalities, the stylus is also expected to come with a number of gaming features, as Samsung’s mobile chief DJ Koh implied earlier this month. The South Korean tech giant recently confirmed that its next flagship device will see the light of day on August 9 at an “Unpacked” event in New York City, and the phablet is supposed to offer at least 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with Samsung rumored to be working on a configuration with as much as 512GB of flash memory and 8GB of RAM.