Meet the Surface Display Cover. Microsoft's research department "Microsoft Research" has already presented many interesting concept ideas and prototypes in the past. The latest video from Microsoft's think tank now shows another version of the Surface Cover, the magnetic clip-on keyboard for the Surface Tablet.
The Display Cover
The special feature of the DisplayCover is the multitouch display, which was installed above its keypad.
This display can show context sensitive data of applications or independent programs. It can also be used for data input, even supporting pen input. The video shows how to do this using Adobe Photoshop, among other things.
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The Display Cover development version presented in the video uses a multi-touch capable e-ink display with a resolution of 1,280 × 305 pixels.
The prototype presented in the video does not have a trackpad. It had to give way due to lack of space. However, Microsoft Research will certainly come up with a clever idea for this until it is ready for the market.
Whether this concept, whose development began in 2009 (with the Microsoft Adaptive Keyboard), will ever reach production maturity is not yet clear.
But we are already looking forward to the next update from Microsoft Research.
Source: DisplayCover: A Tablet Keyboard with an Embedded Thin-Film Touchscreen Display
