Samsung has announced Penvatars to spice up the S-Pen software suite

When Samsung first released the Galaxy Note, it was at a time when even 4-inch screen sizes were still considered “large” and the idea of the S-Pen stylus brought back memories of the PDAs that characterized the late 90’s. Today, things have changed quite a bit with a variety of device form factors making use of digital pens, and the Galaxy Note 4/Edge being the one(s) that everyone wants. Still, as far the actual stylus style goes, things have been rather boring. Samsung is now seeking to change that, for the Korean conglomerate has just announced “Penvatars”.

As those with a Note probably know, when the S-Pen is in hand, users have the option of turning on a pointer that allows them to see the position of the stylus. This pointer has always been a simple circle, nothing more-nothing less. Penvatars, however, will allow that modest mark to become potentially anything, and the first thing they will become is nothing short of, well, super. Thanks to a partnership with Marvel Comics, the first wave of digital dots will take the rounded shape of some classic superheroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk and so on.

Take a look at the movie clip below provided by Samsung to get a glimpse of what’s in store:

While no release date has been set for the new addition to stylish stylus support, one important fact is set in stone: according to Phone Arena, the Penvatars will only be supported by the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge. Those with the three older models will simply have to do without, unfortunately. It is also unclear as to if the Penvatars will be free-of-charge or come at a cost. Given that the movie file above indicates there are two pages of icons to choose from, it might be safe to assume Samsung will provide a page of “generic” icons free of charge, with licensed dots arriving periodically at a premium.

Ford realizes that the way forward involves technology

As we have previously discussed, for years automobile companies have put out sloppy and confusing car GUI’s (Graphical User Interface). Combine the terrible car GUI’s with even worse automobile data plans being offered by most wireless carriers and you are left with a section of the tech industry that has all but fallen flat with consumers.

Thankfully in the last year, car companies have publicly come out and admitted to needing significant changes to their car GUI’s. Ford is pushing out their latest in-car entertainment system called SYNC 3, which includes a “capacitive touch screen, better integration with smartphone apps and, eventually, support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.”

This was followed by Ford CEO Mark Fields speaking at CES 2015  where he highlighted just how important Ford was taking the future of technology in their automobiles. In his keynote, Field talked about data being their biggest asset and the need for Ford to develop applications that can work across multiple transportation systems.

As ZDNet put it, “Ford is a good example of how every company is becoming a tech company.”

95octane

At the moment, Ford is experimenting with automobiles in India and China where hundreds of volunteer employees are using data from in-vehicle sensors. One area of concern that Fields noted in his speech at CES was just how much data was being used by the tested volunteers in the car and the car system itself. In initial tests, Ford saw “upwards of 25GB of information per hour.”

I am sure that AT&T and other carriers saw this stat and began to dance in the streets. AT&T already has deals with several automobile companies and is pushing the idea that it “makes sense” for carriers to add any data used in the car to that consumers personal data plan. It makes sense to AT&T who would love to see this immense amount of data being added to customers plans thus resulting in many customers needing to purchase higher data plans.

That type of thought from AT&T is why I am skeptical as to whether in-vehicle connectivity will actually take off with customers. People already have a smartphone that they likely paid a high amount for in today’s market. Will they really want to pay an additional amount for this type of connection?