Laptop 'portfolio' concept sports e-ink screen

 

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By David Bayon in San Francisco

Posted on 21 Sep 2007 at 18:16

Intel has demonstrated to PC Pro at IDF an early prototype laptop 'portfolio', a briefcase-style sleeve that fits around a laptop and features an e-ink screen and controls on the outside.

Paired with an ultrathin 15in Core 2 Duo notebook with the necessary proprietary connector on the base - also only in concept stage - the portfolio is much like the sleeve to a book, fitting snugly around the laptop and offering added style and a little protection for a commute.

But the real draw is the e-ink screen on the outside. With a set of controls similar to an MP3 player, it can be used for a variety of tasks, an Intel representative informed us.

"As it connects directly to the notebook you can power down to S1 [sleep state], but still use the screen as an RSS feed or play basic games on it. But we like it best as an e-book reader, so you can have your e-books on your hard disk and read them on your commute without opening your notebook."

It's currently only a concept, with no concrete decision about its future at this point. The representative did pencil in next year as a possible launch date, although "it might not be this exact design, but something broadly based on this."

Future technology

Elsewhere in the Tech Showcase hall at IDF PC Pro also saw the first working protoype e-ink screen running colour video. Playing Pixar's 'Cars', it looked a little like the picture from an old analog TV - fuzzy and occasionally breaking up into a snow effect, but just about watchable.

And for everyone who has experienced the discomfort of a hot laptop, lid cooling could be a welcome innovation. Taiwanese manufacturer Compal Electronics demonstrated a working prototype laptop with a heat pipe in the lower chassis that draws heat up from the base, via the hinge mechanism, to be dissipated across the large surface area of the back of the display.

Most notebooks using the technology could benefit from a reduction in the size of the fans, while those with low-voltage processors could potentially do away with fan cooling entirely. Aside from the obvious noise reduction, this would also allow manufacturers to remove the numerous vents around the laptop, making them more resistant to dust and liquids.

Earlier PC Pro was shown the first digital TV tuner and aerial to be integrated into a laptop.

Click here to read all the reports from PC Pro's IDF Fall 2007 Special.