Acer Touch-Based Keyboard Part Of Super-Thin Laptop Design

Things are getting thinner. It's looking like "thin" may be the new "small," when it comes to the tech industry. It's been a long time coming, truth be told, and as long as all our gadgets don't start snapping in half like a thin stick, we're happy with where this could all lead to. Companies like Acer want to help us get there, by offering up some pretty intuitive ideas, even if it does scare us that our screen may not be encased by anything at all.

What we mean is, to save the laptop's thinness, Acer wants to create a laptop that uses a frameless screen. Acer wants to use Corning's reinforced class substrate, and therefore you won't be seeing the traditional encasement over your screen. Acer would just like to color the back of the substrate to match their needs, and go from there. This design methodology works on two fronts: one, it will allow for the laptop to be incredibly thin on the "top-half," and also reduce material costs for the company. Again, as long as our gadgets are safe in normal every day use, we're fine with this.

On the "bottom-half,", we've got the keyboard. Traditionally, this is where the majority of the weight, size, and everything else goes, so Acer has a plan for this as well. They want a touch-based keyboard. No "physical" keys, but more akin to what you'd see on your touchscreen phone. We understand that there is a pretty thick line out there, dividing those who like touchscreen keyboards and those who want a more traditional one, so this would probably be chalked up to personal taste more than anything else. There isn't any word on pricing yet, but Acer does plan to have this laptop out some time in the second half of this year. So, start counting down the months.

[via CrunchGear]