E Ink has developed a new touchpad for laptops that includes the identical digital paper expertise present in e-readers. It’s not the primary firm to take a look at the ever-growing dimension of laptop computer touchpads and see the potential of extra performance, however as a substitute of serving as a second smaller display screen for the pc’s OS, E Ink is positioning its touchpad as a devoted house for AI purposes and assistants.
A mockup picture shared by the corporate incorporates a laptop computer with a touchpad upgraded with a shade E Ink display screen much like what’s in use by gadgets just like the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft. As a substitute of it being an extension of a laptop computer’s predominant display screen, E Ink envisions its new touchpad as being a separate place the place AI-generated textual content summaries might seem beneath your arms whereas engaged on a doc, or you possibly can keep a continuing dialog with an AI chatbot with out having to juggle desktop home windows.
E Ink’s show expertise solely consumes energy when it’s being up to date. That’s an enormous profit given the upper calls for of AI instruments on a laptop computer’s battery life.
Just like Apple’s now discontinued Touch Bar, E Ink additionally says the touchpad show might present fast entry to often used shortcuts, show notifications or the climate, or present short-term playback controls with out having to sacrifice a laptop computer keyboard’s row of perform keys. It will additionally assist cut back battery nervousness, as a result of in contrast to LCD or OLED panels, E Ink’s show expertise solely consumes energy when it’s being up to date. That’s an enormous profit given the upper calls for of AI instruments on a laptop computer’s battery life.
What’s not at present recognized are extra in-depth technical specs. Other than the touchpad probably utilizing shade e-paper shows, E Ink hasn’t revealed if it would adapt certainly one of its present panels, or if it’s developed a completely new one with elevated resolutions. Right now’s announcement particularly references compatibility with Intel-based AI PCs, however E Ink didn’t go into particulars about whether or not the touchpad show could be powered by a laptop computer’s main OS, or if it could function its personal. The corporate additionally didn’t present a timeline for when these touchpads would possibly begin displaying up in laptops or which {hardware} makers could also be .