Touchpadfabrikant Synaptics has a new type of touch pad shown without separate buttons, that can detect how much pressure a user is performed. In addition, the company to technology for thin, capacitive keyboards.
The new type of touchpad has the name ForcePad and consists of a single surface with built-in pressure sensors. In contrast to the ClickPads of the company falls to the surface are no longer physically in key. Also, there are no mouse buttons integrated to the bottom. Because the ForcePad about pressure sensors, can not only be registered where a user clicks, but also how hard the surface is pressed. So it should be possible to be on the function of a button within an application should depend on the pressure exerted. Within a media player would be quicker, for example, back or forward can be harder on the touchpad button.
The ForcePads five fingers, and 64 different pressure levels to register and with a thickness of less than 2.8 mm is a lot thinner than ClickPads. The presence of a physical hinge makes ClickPads about 5.5 mm thick.
In addition to new touchpads, works Synaptics also to a new type of thin keyboards. The individual keys of these so-called ThinTouch keyboards are about as thin as that of recent chiclet keyboards, but there would be significantly less space under the keyboard are needed to the other components.
The small thickness is partly achieved by the indrukmechaniek of the keys; these do not move straight down, but diagonally to the user. Because the keys are capacitive and therefore touch can register there under the buttons is not kliksensor more necessary. That would, in turn, will make it easy for button illumination.
According to Synaptics would be the small thickness of the touchpads and keyboards more leave room for large batteries or better cooling. In 2013, the first notebooks on the market that make use of the ForcePads and ThinTouch keyboards.
