BARCELONA: Lenovo is working on a dual-monitor laptop that lets two people look at the same screen without sitting next to each other.
On display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, starting on Monday, the Chinese computer company's prototype features a setup where the second monitor can be attached to the back of the main screen, so the user cannot see it but a person sitting opposite can.
The second screen can also be detached. If the keyboard is removed, the two monitors can be clipped together and arranged either side by side or one behind the other – with the first screen in front and the second rising up behind it.
The detached keyboard connects to the screens via Bluetooth. It is also possible to leave the main screen and keyboard together and place the second screen next to them as an external device.
"In a post-Covid time, people work on the go from anywhere, so it can be useful to have a second screen," Lenovo product manager Erin Sallese said, promising a more productive set-up for certain users.
Asked when, and whether at all, this "proof of concept" device will come to market, Sallese said it was too early to say, but the initial feedback had been positive.
Lenovo showcases creative designs each year that are at an advanced stage of development. Last year the company showed a laptop with the working title "Flip", whose extra-long display can be folded back so you can look at the screen from the front and the back, similar to the model now presented.
In 2024 Lenovo presented a laptop with a transparent screen. It was intended to help creatives who, using a stylus, could see an object behind the screen and trace it. The transparent screen was also meant to allow a salesperson and the customer sitting opposite to see each other without a visual barrier.
Most proofs of concept end up collecting dust on company shelves, but there are exceptions. A laptop presented at MWC 2023 with a screen that can be extended upwards by 10 centimetres to increase its size is now on sale. Lenovo has not yet published sales figures for it, however.
From the perspective of industry experts, proofs of concept bolster Lenovo’s brand image as an innovative company. Even if the devices do not move beyond development, they help sales by prompting customers to view the brand positively. – dpa
