Tag: keyboard

CES 2024: Lenovo Unveils Concept Keyboard, Mouse That Harvest Mechanical Energy for Charging

Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 has already seen a host of product launches and innovative concept devices. Lenovo, too, has showcased a lineup of new ThinkBook laptops, ThinkCentre neo desktops, and other products at the event. The manufacturer’s CES slate also includes a proof-of-concept mechanical energy harvesting keyboard and mouse combo. Lenovo’s new keyboard and mouse concept do not require traditional external charging to work and instead rely on mechanical movement to generate power.

The Mechanical Energy Harvesting Combo, showcased at CES, is ergonomically designed keyboard and mouse combination that runs on manually generated mechanical energy. The proof-of-concept devices can also utilise solar irradiation to function, thus eliminating the need for an external charger, Lenovo claims.

Lenovo’s concept keyboard has 68-keys, is wireless, supports RGB lighting, and can be seen in a metallic grey colourway. They keyboard comes with a horizontal strip of solar panel on its topside, which can charge the keyboard under bright lighting conditions. Additionally, the keyboard includes a large circular dial on the top left, which reportedly is utilised to transform kinetic energy into battery charge for the device. According to a PC Mag report, the dial can be spun to generate power for the keyboard. Lenovo claims that about five minutes of spinning the dial can should get users about 30 minutes battery usage for the keyboard. The concept keyboard also comes with a USB Type-C port for wired connection.

The mouse, on the other hand, reportedly comes with a ring-shaped crank at the bottom that can be pulled up and wound to provide charge to the device’s battery. One minute of winding should get users about 30 minutes of charge, Lenovo claims.

The mechanical energy keyboard and mouse combo also support both Bluetooth and 2.4G wireless connection. Lenovo has not provided any additional specifications for the devices. As both the keyboard and mouse are proof-of-concept devices, we might not see them hit the market.

In addition to the concept keyboard and mouse, Lenovo announced its new lineup of ThinkBook laptops, ThinkCentre desktops, accessories, and AI PC enhancements at CES this week. The company unveiled its ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 laptop, which comes with a dedicated Microsoft Copilot key. Additionally, the company also introduced the Lenovo Tab M11 at the ongoing tech showcase event. Shipping with Android 13 onboard, the Tab M11 is powered by a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset and packs a 7,040mAh battery. The tablet will be available for purchase initially in the US, starting April.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2024 hub.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Microsoft Adds AI Copilot Key in First Change to PC Keyboard in Decades

Microsoft is adding a button to the Windows keyboard to activate its AI Copilot service, with the first devices to sport the new key available this month.

The Copilot key, which will sit to the right of the space bar, is the first change to the Windows keyboard layout since Microsoft added the Windows/Start key in 1994, underscoring the company’s commitment to artificial intelligence. Microsoft’s hardware partners will show off Windows 11 computers with the Copilot button over the coming days at the CES technology conference and, over time, it will become a required feature.

The shortcut will help users create images, write emails and summarize text with the help of AI.

“AI will be seamlessly woven into Windows from the system, to the silicon, to the hardware,” Microsoft’s consumer chief marketing officer, Yusuf Mehdi, said in a blog announcing the change.

The Redmond, Washington-based company sees 2024 as “the year of the AI PC,” according to Mehdi, mirroring the budding trend among smartphone makers to tout their latest models as “AI phones.” Those labels don’t carry much weight by themselves, but Microsoft has spent the past year retooling its biggest products around AI tech that can generate new content from massive datasets. That list now includes Windows, Office, Bing search, security software and customer and finance products. The work heavily leverages the GPT-4 technology from OpenAI, in which Microsoft has invested $13 billion (roughly Rs. 1,08,201 crore).

For device makers, Microsoft’s push into AI services has not yet translated into a boost for sales, as the novel Copilot features are being rolled out to new and existing devices alike. Mehdi’s promise of weaving AI into hardware and silicon may signal more pressure on consumers to upgrade as Microsoft evolves and improves its AI proposition.

© 2024 Bloomberg LP

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company’s new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2024 hub.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Apple Working on New Keyboard With Dynamic Key Functions; Patent Suggests Keys Could Display Animation, Video

Apple could be working on a dynamic backlit keyboard technology that allows keys to perform several functions instead of being bound to one. A new patent filed by the Cupertino, California-based tech giant hints at a future MacBook that might feature a keyboard with changing key functions that illuminate based on the context. The underlying LEDs could reportedly even show animation and video on top of the keys. Existing backlight technology in keyboards only serves to light up the intended key function.

According to a report in Patently Apple, the US Patent & Trademark Office published an Apple patent on Thursday that particularly deals with keyboard mechanism. The patent mentions that the keys would be partially made of aluminium and would feature dynamic lettering, or “glyphs”, that will light up according to the corresponding function.

“More particularly, the present embodiments relate to keycaps having illuminable glyphs that are selectively visible or invisible to an unaided human eye,” the report said. The patent mentions that the future Apple keyboard could have perforations on keycaps through which an array of LED lights could illuminate changing symbols, numbers, and letters by selectively lighting up specific perforations.

Such a dynamic keyboard could also allow users to change keyboard layouts completely or even switch to a different language. Additionally, the report said that the key LEDs could be controlled to show animations, information, or even video on one specific key or a group of keys.

Apple noted in their patent application that their keyboard would represent several advantages over existing backlit keyboards. Current keys are mostly made of plastic and usually have letters or symbols painted or coated on them. Repeated use of the keyboard leads to the coat fading away over time. An aluminium key would represent much higher quality, while changing LED glyphs would eliminate the problem of key symbols getting rubbed off.

Apple had been using its much-maligned Butterfly Keyboard on MacBooks from 2015 to 2019. Earlier this year, the company paid $50 million (roughly Rs 414 crore) to settle a class-action lawsuit over its defective MacBook keyboards. The company now offers the Magic Keyboard on its MacBooks.

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version