Lenovo has created a Windows laptop with an e-ink screen that rotates.
In addition, the business is experimenting with magnetic cameras for computers.
Lenovo's Smart Paper Tablet is a $400 alternative to Amazon's Kindle Scribe.
The e-ink gadget is capable of synchronizing written notes with voice recordings.
These days, e-ink is highly popular. BMW has used it to cover automobiles, and Lenovo has used it to cover the lid of a laptop computer so that you may view a document even when the laptop is closed.
There are also e-ink typewriters that connect the keyboard to the e-ink screen, allowing you to type comfortably and uninterrupted. Perhaps Lenovo, which recently dazzled with E Ink, has now expanded its E Ink-enabled PCs based on these typewriters, and we'll be able to utilize E Ink as the laptop's primary screen in the new ThinkBook Plus Twist.
The ThinkBook Plus Twist appears to be a standard thin and light productivity laptop, a version of the ThinkBook Plus Gen 1 and 2 models. It has an Intel Core i7 CPU, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a beautiful 2.8K OLED display with a 400-nit pen.
A 12-inch backlit E Ink color touchscreen is located on the laptop's rear. Aside from the additional colors and the faster refresh rate of 12 Hz, the screen isn't much different from the ThinkBook Plus Gen 1 and 2 versions, unless you notice the rotation of the bottom border of the screen.
Turning the screen to the right causes the E Ink screen to migrate to the front of the device and the OLED screen to transform into a cover. You may now run Windows on a laptop with an E Ink screen as the primary display.
The experience is predictably strange and sluggish, with a refresh rate of 12 Hz. Especially given the production model I used at CES was a little sluggish, something Lenovo claims does not occur on sales units. However, given that gadgets like the Freewrite Traveler with E-Paper display price for $500, Lenovo will almost surely find a market. I'm weary of continuously gazing at the LED screen on my laptop when I'm working on the move.
However, there is no loss of capability as compared to prior ThinkBook Plus models. When you click and switch, the OLED screen instantly moves to the front of the device, and programs active on the main screen are relocated to another screen in the same area. There's even a full-fledged tablet mode that activates immediately when the lid is closed, allowing you to utilize the rear screen in landscape or portrait orientation with just one finger.
Both sides of the screen have a camera, with the webcam on the e-ink side really being a light sensor that regulates brightness and color temperature.
The ThinkBook Plus Twist is priced at $1,649 and will be available in June.
Utilize this magnetic webcam mount.
Speaking of cameras, Lenovo has unveiled a new ThinkBook, this time with a one-of-a-kind attachment. The ThinkBook 16p Gen 4, like the ThinkBook Plus Twist, appears to be a standard laptop with plenty of power at first impression. It has Intel H-series CPUs and discrete Nvidia graphics cards, as well as up to 32 GB of DDR5 memory and a 16-inch IPS display with various resolutions and regular refresh rates (3.2K at 60 Hz or 2.5K at 120 Hz). However, the upper portion of the display is noteworthy.
When Apple's MacBook Air M2 debuted last year, demonstrating that the company was finally encouraged to put some power into its notebooks, I asked why there wasn't just a magnet on the back of the laptop for a detachable camera. That is just what Lenovo has done in this instance.
The ThinkBook 16p Gen 4 laptop is the first to include Lenovo's Magic Bay attachment system. You may attach one of three accessories to the magnetic Pogo Pin hole on the top of the lid.
The first is a light bar that can be accessed via the laptop's 1080p webcam. The second is a 4G LTE module that may be linked through USB-C as well. The third option is my personal favorite: a 4K camera that can be turned 180 degrees on the laptop's back.
This means you can receive a higher-quality camera image on your laptop without sacrificing screen space, and maybe more companies will follow suit in the future.
For the time being, it is an experiment. The only Lenovo system that currently supports Magic Bay modules is the ThinkBook 16p Gen 4, and Magic Bay modules are only accessible if you request them while configuring your laptop.