According to a Microsoft (MSFT) patent application from August 2008, made public today, the company sees touch-screen cell phones as potential graphics tablets for computers. That raises the question of how mobile devices will work in computing: as adjuncts to desktops and laptops or as replacements.

For those who might not have used them, graphics tablets are touch-sensitive devices, like the touch pads on many laptops. They let you more easily draw and paint, often with a stylus, than is possible using a mouse.

More: http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10005582/microsoft-sees-phones-as-graphics-tablets/