One of the the overlooked tidbits in amongst the flurry of Note 9 news was Samsung’s plan to offer an S Pen SDK for developers. The company made good on its promise today, issuing a full break down of the different functionality over here.
Of course, all of this is made possible by the fact the proprietary stylus has learned a few new tricks for this latest generation of the popular phablet. The addition of bluetooth low energy and an on-board battery that gets around half an hour of battery life (or 200 clicks) from a 40 second charge help the thing double as a remote.
In demos, Samsung showed the pen control things like music playback and slideshow presentations. In my own review, I found it handy — if a bit awkward — to hold a stylus while going for a run.
The SDK opens the pen up to third-parties, and it will be interesting to see what they’re able to do with the “unmatched freedom and functionality” to take selfies and the like with a small piece of plastic and a single button.