14 DAY TRIAL // Dual-screen laptops aren’t a really common piece of technology. Think about it, if you’d want something like this today, you wouldn’t really know where to turn.
Remember the ASUS Taichi line of devices? A couple of years ago, the device maker rolled out a family of products that came equipped with screens on both sides of the lid.
Closing the lid would have transformed the lappy into a tablet. On the other hand, with the notebook open, the “main” screen would have been facing users, while the second looked in the other direction.
Intel has a dual-screen laptop of its own to show
Fast forward a few years later to the present, where Intel is showing off a prototype of a laptop that seems quite reminiscent of the ASUS Taichi. To a degree.
The tech giant is currently showing off a notebook that has a screen on both sides of the lid (as seen at Mobile Geeks). But that’s all the reference design has in common with the ASUS Taichi, because in Intel’s case we’re dealing with a secondary small, low power E Ink display.
The new laptop might seem a curious concoction to some. After all E Ink screens are typically used in eReaders, but we have seen them sustain smartwatches, phones and the like.
Typically, E Ink displays are quite efficient, because they tend to drain power only when the screen is refreshed. So basically, the laptop might be able to display notes, eBooks and other content while the notebook rests in sleep or hibernation mode.
Since Intel offers a connected standby feature, the notebook is eligible to receive updates from the Internet even when it hibernation mode.
So besides showing text and such, the display could also offer you relevant info containing weather info, email, messages and so on.
The extra display could also be used for customization options. For example, you can use it to load photos and other imagery you find appealing and you think others might enjoy too.
Will we ever see the notebook arrive on the market?
Note that the product we have been talking so far is just a prototype and not the real deal.
We’re not exactly sure if there’s a market for products such as these for the moment, but even so, it’s interesting to behold this atypical device.
For the time being, it’s not clear whether Intel actually plans to roll out notebooks with a secondary E Ink display on the market or not.
On the other hand, the chip giant might offer the reference designs and software developer kits to device manufacturers interested in producing such devices.
