China's Huawei had been looking for the right manufacturer to develop a stylus for the upcoming phablet. And now, Huawei has found a match.
Expected to arrive in the shirt pocket of its next flagship phablet, the stylus is being developed to compete with Samsung's S Pen, according to rumors that emerged from a Chinese parts supplier and later report in the Korean press.
Huawei reportedly had its eyes on Wacom originally. However, Wacom pumps out pens Samsung draws up.
Huawei was wary of Wacom's relationship with Samsung and worried the company wouldn't be able to give it its all, due to commitments to the Galaxy-maker. Whoever Huawei chooses is believed to have the technical know-how to compete with Samsung and Wacom's stylus, but names haven't been revealed just yet.
Huawei wanted to arm its 2013 Ascend Mate with a stylus, but apparently got cold feet and left the idea on the drawing table. This is still only a rumor right now and Huawei maybe looking into styli to add to the company's accessories or may not be looking at the pens at all.
If the company doesn't have a stylus in the works, or ends up drawing a strike through its plans, Intel may have found the answer for Huawei. Intel isn't looking to develop a stylus, but a standard for styli, a common language that will provide for better interaction between instrument and app.
Intel has been partnering with Wacom, Lenovo, Sharp, PenTech, Synaptics, Dell, Primax and others through the Universal Stylus Initiative. The initiative was revealed last summer during Intel's developers forum and now the chipmaker is said to be nearing the finalization of the format's first specification.
Intel will have the first spec finished before the year is done. Hewlett-Packard and Dell are expected to pick the specification, run with it and then release some on the first quarter of next year. Moreover, depending on when Huawei wants to release its next standard bearer, the spec could be ready in time - and adoption of the spec would open the new phablet up to styli from third-parties, which is always a good time.
