The Surface Pen is one of the best features of Microsoft"s Surface Pro 3 tablet, and one that sets it apart from many of the Windows tablets and touchscreen convertibles that have appeared in recent months.
The Pen comes as a bundled accessory with the Pro 3, and will be available as an optional extra on the more affordable Surface 3 tablet that goes on sale next week. However, the technology behind it wasn"t developed by Microsoft itself, but by Israeli firm N-trig.
Back in February, a report claimed that Microsoft had acquired the company in a deal worth around $200 million. It turns out that that report was a bit wide of the mark, as Microsoft today announced that it has acquired the technology behind the Surface Pen from N-trig, but not the company itself.
In a brief blog post on the purchase today, Microsoft"s Stevie Bathiche said that "digital pens have a ways to go to be as good as pen and paper on some dimensions, and we"ll get there. But more importantly, adding the ability to capture and share the work you do with a digital pen opens up possibilities that traditional pen and paper just can"t match."
He added that "today"s investment is another step that will let us push that innovation forward." The exact size of that investment is unknown, as Microsoft did not disclose any further details about the acquisition.