Innovation in technology is not as fast as it used to be. Today we are going slowly. Phones and computers are essentially identical to those of 10 years ago, with the same functions, and only the power has changed. But someone is trying very insistently. Through a leak, we learn that Lenovo is about to present a notebook that can change a lot in the computer landscape: it is an almost completely transparent laptop.
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The leak: presentation expected at the MWC in Barcelona
The 2024 edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) will be held in Barcelona from 26 to 29 February, an event dedicated to the mobile communications sector, as well as one of the most anticipated and rich events on the technological scene.
From a very recent leak by Evan Blass, the image of a surprising prototype has been leaked. Thus a computer with a completely translucent appearance, both for the screen and for the keyboard, albeit in different ways. According to Blass, the presentation of the project is expected during MWC 2024.
Behind it is Lenovo, a company among the leaders in the technology sector, which demonstrates in various ways its desire to invest in innovation. Recently, it has also expanded into mobile phones. It had acquired Motorola already in 2014, but without affecting its products in any way. And only in 2023 it launched its first smartphone, specific for the business world, called Lenovo Thinkphone.
At the most famous tech fairs, such as MWC itself, experiments had already been made on devices with transparency effects. However, they had never attempted this spectacular approach on a computer. Let’s see what it could consist of in detail.
Read also: New Lenovo T1 glasses: the new wearable screen for immersive experiences
How Lenovo’s transparent laptop is made
Since this is a leak, there are still no precise technical details or official information on the device. However, two images and various information on the composition have been leaked.
Let’s start with what stands out most: the display. From the main concept you can admire two transparent laptops, and one of the two screens is behind the other. This is because the display of the one in front appears translucent and almost completely transparent, like glass.
Apparently the screens are almost 100% transparent when turned off, while when turned on they have some covering elements, but still some parts of the desktop are still semi-transparent.
How is it possible to do this? Thanks to the experiments on transparent OLED technology, which has been studied by famous brands (especially Samsung) for several years. Specifically, it seems that that black band at the base of the display serves to project the computer’s images onto the glossy display.
In addition, the keyboard is also translucent and semi-transparent. In this case the innovative scope is smaller, given that these effects were already possible. However, there remains a lot of curiosity about its composition, since from the images it appears to be entirely touch-sensitive, without raised buttons. Who knows, it can be exploited, via software, to implement special or customized commands for work.
The possible distribution of Lenovo’s transparent computer
As mentioned, nothing is yet known about technical specifications, detailed components, usability, capacity. For the moment, we only see the image of a prototype and in reality it could even look a little different.
We don’t even know the price. But we imagine that its costs could be quite high. It is well known that particularly revolutionary products are not feasible for the budgets of ordinary people, at the beginning.
In addition, we do not know whether the product will be put on the market. Many prototypes are studied and developed not for sale, but for technological innovation itself. Lenovo itself did it with its rollable Motorola smartphone model, which was never marketed.
In practice, an object, even if it works, can have a cost-benefit ratio that is too unbalanced, so companies know it would never sell. They don’t send it to the market, but they develop it anyway. Thus because thanks to technological advancement it will allow the creation of new products in the future.
And maybe those will be beautiful but also good for the market: it’s progress, it’s research, and rightly so. Therefore, we can do nothing but wait to know whether the transparent computer will “only” be used to progress or will be at our disposal.
Read also: Ten future smartphone innovations to watch out for
