Synaptics is known for their touchpads and touchscreens, until now. Keyboards are the company’s latest ambition, specifically the new ThinTouch, a keyboard Synaptics will supply to PC makers looking for ways to make their Ultrabooks even thinner. Indeed, the keyboard is said to be up to 50 percent thinner than its competitors, and Synaptics’ big pitch to manufacturers is that a thinner keyboard allows for slimmer PCs, with room for larger batteries.
The company is also promising stronger backlighting, since the keys sit close to the substrate and there aren’t rubber domes blocking the light source. Finally, there’s a capacitive sensor underneath the keyboard, allowing the laptop’s touchpad to be disabled automatically while you’re typing. The company is also developing a feature in which the space bar could be a touch sensor in and of itself, with support for functions like autocomplete.
No word on which PC makers will adopt the ThinTouch, but Synaptics says the keyboard will start shipping sometime in 2013.
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