Do you remember the whacky transparent AMOLED laptop showcased by Samsung in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show? Sure, it seemed to be quite a cool product for the people present there, but the problem was that it was only cool; not very useful. Apparently, Samsung has decided to take this idea forward to the market and are planning to release the transparent AMOLED laptop at the end of this year. If that was not strange enough, they plan to create a separate category of devices having transparent screens and will be releasing some in a year’s time.
The laptop has a 14 inch AMOLED display. AMOLED screens are really catching up on the traditional screens. They are thinner and have much better color display while consuming lesser power. They are quite common in high end phones these days which boast of great video quality and high battery life. The AMOLED screen used in this device allows 40 percent of light to pass through the screen when it is turned off. After turning it on, you can see your desktop and applications and a great deal of what is happening behind your screen. The screen offers very sharp and bright images, but you may not want to see what’s taking place behind your screen.
This concept is very useful, if you are a college kid with a rich dad and just want to show your new toy to your friends. And also if you are sitting at some place to ogle at girls through your screen while looking like an innocent working person.
That apart, this device has no practical use, or at least we don’t see one yet. It will let people see what you are doing on your laptop. What happened to privacy? Its usability in sunlight will almost be null because of the sharp light coming through. Imagine watching a movie where you are disturbed every second by the scene behind your laptop. As for now, we cannot think of any proper use of this notebook and we will have to wait and see if Samsung finds some before the release.
Samsung is also working on an MP3 player with this same technology. Samsung’s IceTouch MP3 player ( YP-H1), will start retailing even before the notebook. It is a portable all in one media player which features Music and DVD playback along with FM tuner. The estimated price of this device is around $328.
Samsung is also working on a transparent navigation system which will mount on the car’s windshield. This is the only proper use of this technology we have seen so far. This makes a lot of sense as it will help drivers to navigate with minimum disturbance.
Samsung has surprised everyone by announcing the AMOLED laptop as a consumer product. Let us wait and see if Samsung can come up with some proper use of this novelty device.