As Surface owners will be well aware, the Surface Pen is powered by a standard (AAA or button cell) battery which needs replacing – albeit infrequently, indeed it can last up to a year – but that may not be the case in the future, at least going by a patent that Microsoft has filed.
According to that ever-ripe source Patently Mobile, Redmond's big idea is that the new stylus has a rechargeable battery inside, and this power pack is recharged via a magnetic dock.
This small dock could possibly attach to the Surface device in some manner, meaning it would double as a place to keep the Surface Pen safe and handy (magnetically attached) as well as charge it up – a neat two-in-one solution, in other words (much like the Surface Book itself).
Patently Mobile notes that at no point in the patent description does Microsoft refer to the dock as a standalone device, so a built-in charger could well be the end goal. Of course, that's assuming this patent goes anywhere at all – as we all know, just because a tech firm draws up a patent doesn't mean the product will see the light of day.
The patent was filed a year and a half ago, incidentally.
Anyway, you never know, the next incarnation of the Surface Book or Surface Pro (or those further down the line) might just come with an integrated dock that recharges the stylus.
Via: PC World
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