Word on the Samsung street is that the manufacturer is readying a 2-in-1 Chromebook with a detachable screen, as a follow-up to the Chromebook Pro and Chromebook Plus laptops that the company released this year – and now we've got another piece of the puzzle in terms of what to expect.
As Chrome Unboxed notes (opens in new tab), recent changes in a section of the Chrome OS code dedicated to a mystery device (known by the codename of Nautilus) refer to storing and ejecting a stylus. Chances are, Nautilus is Samsung's upcoming Chromebook.
That means you'll be able to doodle on the touchscreen screen and give your fingers a rest, as on the Samsung Chromebook Pro, which also came with a stylus. The new model will up the ante by making the screen detachable, so you can turn it into a fully fledged Chrome OS tablet if you're so inclined.
Stop taking the tablets
Don't forget that most Chromebooks can now run Android apps too, making a stylus even more useful for tapping around the likes of Netflix and Facebook. Whatever the new Samsung Chromebook ends up being called, it'll almost certainly be able to run a selection of Android apps.
All of this means Android tablets aren't really needed any more – as Google itself has acknowledged by finally pulling the Pixel C tablet from its online store after two years. Touchscreen Chromebooks can now act as perfectly decent tablets, running both Android apps and a proper web browser too.
We wouldn't expect the stylus on Nautilus to be anywhere near the sophistication of the Pen that comes with the Google Pixelbook, but it should do a job for sketching and writing. As for when we'll see it officially unveiled, keep your eyes on news coming out of the CES show at the start of January.