Samsung’s Galaxy Note phablet lineup is one of the most popular family of devices on the market, with a lot of expectations set in place for future devices. The Galaxy Note 4 is one of those handsets, with an expected launch date later this year, and plenty of folks waiting to see what Samsung has in store for their newest flagship handset. Thanks to a new patent application, what comes after the Galaxy Note 4 could be even more exciting.

The Galaxy Note phablet lineup has always featured a big smartphone, with the device meant to bridge the gap between a smartphone and tablet to the best of its ability. That means, on that big display, you can use split-screen multitasking to do two things at once, and plenty of other features to really make use of the larger screen. Because of these enhancements, the Galaxy Note series has become one of the most popular series in the smartphone market.

Now, a new patent application based in South Korea could show how Samsung is looking to improve the family in a big way: ultrasound. The application indicates that Samsung is working on, or has at least thought about, including ultrasound technology with their S Pen technology, which could very well mean thinner (and lighter) devices. With ultrasound, it would mean that up to four sensors could be used (likely at the corners of the device’s screen) to pick up the placement of the pen, and therefore a digitizer would no longer be needed on the display. Not only would that mean thinner devices, but it could potentially also mean lower costs.

This type of technology isn’t new, but it’s also not quite commonplace, either. Qualcomm has already introduced a tablet that features this sort of technology, thanks to technology that’s built into the manufacturing company’s Snapdragon 805 chipset. There are indeed rumors that Samsung is including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 805 processor under the hood of the Galaxy Note 4, so some believe we could see the ultrasound improvement with the included S Pen. With a patent application like this, it’s more likely that we won’t see the introduction of ultrasound technology until the Galaxy Note 5 at least, but considering the Galaxy Note 4 is believed to be a major upgrade from the Note 3, ultrasound technology in the S Pen could certainly help make it stand out.

Are you excited for the Galaxy Note 4?