Technology giant Apple Inc. has applied for two patents that are related to stylus input on touch-screens and other surfaces.

The Cupertino-based company had applied for the patent last year in January, but was published by the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) only recently on Thursday. It has been said that the stylus will have a heated conductive tip and it can be charged when inserted into the device for storage.

Another report said the stylus, like a Livescribe pen, will have the ability to write on any surface and the writing or drawing will later be shown on a separate computing device.

The new stylus will require a capacitive screen for the device to recognize the commands given via the stylus that will be different from the commands given by the user’s finger.

Previously, RIM also came up with a hybrid capacitive-resistive screen concept and HTC took the magnet-on-a-stick route. The HTC’ Flyer Android tablet, released recently, also has a stylus for its capacitive screen, according to a ZDNet report.

Apple will release its anticipated iPad 3 later this year which is expected to come with an improvised retina display with a resolution of 2058x1536 pixels. Now the new screen can be made capacitive by Apple to challenge other tablets in the market, and a chargeable stylus inclusion will definitely have an edge over other companies. But, one may wonder if it’s too late to change the screen type with the release date of the tablet fast approaching. Chances are less of a chargeable stylus at the moment.

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