Google’s upcoming Pixel tablet may support the cross-manufacturer USI (Universal Stylus Initiative) standard, allowing it to be used with a range of third-party styluses, as a recently discovered entry in the USI’s List of Certified Products can be believed. The entry we saw through NuGizlists a Google device with the product name “Tangor” and the model number “Tablet,” presumably temporary names for the Android tablet that Google announced earlier this month.
USI is an industry-wide stylus standard that Google joined in 2018. It’s already supported on a range of Chromebooks, allowing them to be used with a variety of styluses from different manufacturers. But while there are plenty of proprietary stylus/Android tablet offerings (such as Samsung’s S Pen for its Galaxy tablets), none are certified to work with the universal USI standard.
Earlier this year, the USI announced version 2.0 of the standard. This release includes a new wireless charging feature that allows compatible styluses to be charged simply by placing them next to a supported device, similar to what Apple offers with the Apple Pencil 2 and select iPads. It’s unclear which version of the standard Google tablet might support.
As 9to5Google notes, it seems unusual for Google’s tablet to show up in the USI database so early, after Google said it was targeting a 2023 release. According to the wayback machine, the list first appeared sometime after January. Neither the USI nor Google responded to The Verges request for comment.
