The Apple logo Is Pictured Inside The Newly Opened Omotesando Apple Store
The Apple logo is pictured inside the newly opened Omotesando Apple store at a shopping district in Tokyo in this file photo taken June 26, 2014. Reuters/YUYA SHINO

The patent was granted to the tech titan by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a "Communicating stylus" with Patent No. 8,922,530. According to Apple Insider, the patent describes the device as a smart pen which has built-in accelerometers, wireless communication hardware for transmitting and receiving data and an onboard storage to transfer works straight to another digital device.

Others have already dubbed the modern stylus as the iPen, obviously following the names of Apple's popular devices. The newly approved patent enables its users to write on paper and have the notes automatically be transferred to an iPhone or an iPad, not to mention that the transfer is done in real-time.

In addition, the stylus is only activated when held by hand. The patent also adds that Apple's pen has the ability to send out stylus data to various devices, for example when used as meeting notes.

According to Technology Personalized, the concept is not a new innovation since a similar product from Livescribe already exists. The smartpen produced by Livescribe called the Livescribe 3, makes use of an infrared camera built on its tips in order to capture handwriting. The captured data will then be stored onboard or the stored data can also be offloaded to other devices via Bluetooth. However, the challenge with this device is the need for a specialised paper and it also eats up big chunk of power.

Looking back, Steve Jobs disregarded the idea of the stylus and believed that consumers do not need an extra device to control their smartphones. But the new patent was submitted in 2010, the year before Jobs passed away, which means that he wasn't really quite decisive in ditching the stylus concept and was obviously willing to consider.

Apple gives the credit to Aleksandar Pance as the inventor of the smart pen which was eventually filed for patenting in Jan 2010. However, the tech giant may have patented the smart pen idea but there is still no confirmation if the company will bring the product to the market.

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