Samsung Galaxy Note 4 might get thinner thanks to new patent

A new patent recently filed by Samsung could allow the next Note device, the Galaxy Note 4, to be a bit thinner than it predecessor, thanks to a new S-Pen technology. Currently, the digitizer used to recognize the S-Pen’s touch and respond to its gestures is adding some thickness to the device, and that could be fixed now.

Currently, Samsung uses a digitizer to recognize the S-Pen’s actions. However, with the new technology, the pen will instead use

seven sensors; three recording two-dimensional data, and four recording three-dimensional data.

The data we’re talking about is ultra-sound technology. The use of an ultrasound pen isn't a first, and is already in use with less-commercial tablets, such as the somewhat-expensive 800$ Snapdragon 805 MDT Tablet *Credit phone arena*. However, this doesn't mean the tablet will be expensive: in fact, the use of ultrasound can reduce the price of the phone by a few bucks.

Of course the main advantage is the slimness this gives the device, allowing it to knock off up to a whole millimeter, which could make an actually change in user experience. Aside from that, users shouldn't notice any difference as to the regular usage of the pen. However, keep in mind the release date is only a couple months away, and this might not be soon enough for Samsung to incorporate the technology with the latest Note, so you might have to wait until the Note 5.

Source: PhoneArena