Microsoft Surface Chief Panos Panay Talks About The Future Of Surface Pen

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Surface Pro 3 8

Recently, WSJ posted a story about styluses and smart pens which make your handwritten notes available on all of your devices. The author of the post Joanna Stern found Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pen offered the best writing experience on any device.

Microsoft’s devices contain special technology in the pen and screen that make for a better experience. Using the Surface, there’s very little lag, pressure sensitivity allows for more precision and you can rest your palm on the screen without causing any issues. And no matter where you are in Windows, the system easily converts your handwriting to text.

Overall, I prefer the Surface’s writing experience, but I do wish it would steal two tricks from Samsung’s S Pen. Unlike Samsung’s silent stylus, Microsoft’s makes a clacking sound every time the pen hits the screen. And while Samsung’s devices have built-in slots for the pen, the Surface Pro 3’s holder is no better than a piece of Scotch tape.

In an interview to WSJ, Panos Panay, corporate vice president for Surface Computing at Microsoft revealed that there are plans to fix both issues in the future.

One thing I find when writing with the Surface Pen is that it still feels like writing on a piece of glass. Is that ever going to change?
We are 100 percent committed to removing the paradigm that feels like you are writing on glass. We have a lot of technology right now, not only in our labs but also in future generations of development in products, that start bringing that pen to life more and more. Getting the pen perfect on the Surface has got a little bit of a ways to go. And we will get there.

But will it ever get so good that we don’t want to write on paper anymore?
The only problem right now with writing something on a screen is if the digital nature of it gets in the way or if the technology fails you. Then the natural experience of writing gets lost. My job is to remove the technical barriers of writing. The technology must fall to the background.

When asked about the rumors that Apple is planning to release a stylus for their devices, he replied the following,

I think it is exciting. It is great that people and companies are moving forward in catching up. I also think we have amazing things ahead of us that will delight people and continue to inspire others to make great inking products.

Read his full interview from the link below.

Source: WSJ

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