Abstract: A stylus comprises a barrel having a scribing nib disposed at one end thereof. The barrel supports at least one user interface. A control circuit operably couples to this control surface and to a wireless transmitter and is configured to selectively switch between transmitting stylus-modality signals via the wireless transmitter in response to the user interface and transmitting non-stylus-modality signals via the wireless transmitter in response to the user interface. The control circuit can automatically switch between using the user interface to enrich and functionally expand usability of the stylus as a pen-styled scribing tool on the one hand and as a remote-control device to control functionality of an unrelated application on the other hand. By one approach, the control circuit switches between these states as a function, at least in part, of proximity of the stylus to the scribing surface.