E Ink touchpad for laptops changes design at the touch of a button

Laptops with a touchscreen integrated into the trackpad are not new; the Asus Zenbook 14, for example, is equipped with the Asus ScreenPad. The new ePaper trackpad developed by E Ink, based on the Intel Smart Base laptop platform, is said to have one major advantage: significantly lower power consumption.

Since an E Ink display only consumes power when the screen content changes, it's possible to change the trackpad design at the touch of a button without noticeably impacting the laptop's battery life. The trackpad can also display a range of widgets and apps, such as the weather forecast or take notes. In conjunction with various AI software, users can display a transcript and summary of an ongoing meeting or video chat on the E Ink display. Frequently used apps and operating system functions can be quickly accessed using shortcuts on the trackpad.

Although E Ink displays are readable in sunlight, the lack of brightness on this trackpad means that legibility in low-light situations may be limited. Furthermore, the trackpad can only display content in grayscale, and E Ink's slow response time generally means that videos cannot be displayed smoothly. Whether or when this E Ink trackpad will be installed in a commercially available laptop is unclear, but according to E Ink, the "ultra-thin" module can be easily integrated into Intel-based laptops.