Samsung Galaxy stylus scribbles, scrawls, makes phone calls

The Samsung Galaxy S3 and its Galactic chums could be getting a next-generation stylus, which you can use to chat to your friends as well as for the usual scribbling and scrawling.

Spotted by Patent Bolt in a recent patent application, the digital stylus is designed for writing or tapping on the screen of your phone or tablet -- but also for chatting to your friends, thanks to a built-in wireless headset.

The headset, housed in the clip, lets you make or receive a phone call without interrupting your doodling. It also means you don't have to lift your oversized phone or tablet to your face.

The headset connects to your phone or tablet via a short-range wireless connection, perhaps using NFC or Bluetooth. When you're chatting on the phone, the buttons on the pen become volume buttons.

Capacitive screens don't work that well with pens, because they're designed to sense the electricity from your finger. In order to work with any degree of sensitivity, the Samsung pen contains plates that transfer the micro-current from your finger to the nib.

Samsung has a thing for the humble stylus. The Samsung Galaxy Note was the first Galaxy to get a stylus -- dubbed the S-Pen by Samsung -- followed by the C-Pen for the S3.

Another next-generation stylus that doubles as an implement for making phone calls is included with the Asus PadFone, allowing you to chat on the phone without holding the chunky tablet up to your face.

Even Apple is exploring the notion of a high-tech scribbling stick: another patent revealed an Apple iPen with a built-in speaker, multi-touch gestures and haptic feedback.

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