Industry Group Says Universal Stylus Specification To Be Final by Year-end

Following Apple’s launch of the Apple Pencil last week, the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) said Friday membership has grown to 31 companies, sans Apple. The organization’s charter is to develop and promote a universal industry specification for an active stylus. “Having so many join within just six months only validates the need for the standard and the work we're doing,” said Chairman Peter Mueller, saying the group expects to complete a specification by year-end. Promoter members include Atmel, Hanvon Pentech, Intel, Lenovo, Sharp, Synaptics, Wacom and Waltop International. Contributor members are Dell Global, eGalax, eMPIA Technology, Elan Microelectronics and Focal Tech Electronics. The USI specification will make it possible for manufacturers to design products to a single standard, rather than the variety of proprietary approaches now in use, the group said. The spec will be compatible with multiple OS platforms, it said. “USI seeks to provide a consistent user experience while increasing the availability and consumer appeal of the active stylus, while providing industry-wide interoperability and adding functions and features not supported by current styluses,” it said.