Samsung patent reveals camera-wielding S-Pen fit for James Bond

It describes an "electric pen device" with an "optical system including a lens and an image sensor", allowing a camera to be "controlled from the external electronic device". The patent granted by the USPTO adds that the S Pen camera may also have optical zooming feature.

This would be the smartphone here and the S Pen would confirm that the image or picture has been taken by the camera.

It's unclear how this S-Pen camera would be used, but one possibility is that Samsung could ditch the selfie camera on smartphones. All you get is a clean, bezel-less, all-screen face.

With the Galaxy Note 9, the S-Pen included Bluetooth functionality that let you remotely control the camera, adjust app functions, change slides in a presentation, and other useful features.

But why go through all the trouble of cramming a camera inside the stylus? Using the extra space in the stylus opens up an opportunity to include a wider range of optical zoom options. However, I would imagine that video calls would be mildly annoying via the S-Pen camera, as you'd need to hold the stylus up for the duration of the call. We are in the eighth generation with the Galaxy Note 9 - remember, Samsung skipped the Galaxy Note 6 ...

The Samsung Galaxy Note series is one of the very few in the mobile world to include a stylus, and while other OEMs have attempted to create competing devices, direct competition hasn't been something that Samsung's lineup has been faced with most of the time. This is all in addition to taking regular notes.

Giving users a higher-quality zoom on Samsung devices seems great on its own, but the bigger implication is that the stylus could take over the duties of the selfie-cam.

It's unclear if/when we can expect this tech in a new smartphone (although the patent mentions support for notebooks and monitors too).