Sharp has announced an unusual Windows netbook that comes with a touchscreen trackpad. The Mebuius NJ70A replaces its standard trackpad with an 854 x 480 touchscreen display, capable of displaying custom menus and allowing multitouch operations such as panning and zooming, Akihabara...
Introduced at a Tokyo press conference this morning, the Mebius NJ70A features a secondary, smartphone-like display with a claimed resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. Replacing a standard trackpad, the secondary display allows multitouch operations such as panning and zooming, much like Apple's latest MacBooks. But in addition, the trackpad can show different screens, ranging from email and diary entries, to context-sensitive function key icons, to calendars, the Akihabara News report claims.
The Mebius's touchscreen trackpad can display custom function keys
The Mebius NJ70A's trackpad can reportedly recognize drawings and text entered using a stylus bundled with the netbook. As shown above and in the video at the end of our story, it can apparently also be utilized by whatever application is running on the device's main screen, creating a Nintendo DS-style dual-display setup.
No further details of the Mebius NJ70A's software have yet been released, but the netbook appears to be running the Windows Vista operating system. Given that, the netbook's secondary display may rely on Microsoft's SideShow technology (for further information, see our earlier coverage, here).
Trackpad apart, the Mebius is a standard netbook, with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, a 10.1-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel main display, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 2.1, and 802.11b/g wireless networking. According to the Register Hardware website, the device will have a three-hour battery life, and measures 10.2 x 7.48 x 0.9 inches (260 x 190 x 23mm).
Sharp's Mebius MJ70A in use Source: Akihabara News (click to play)
Further information
The Mebius NJ70A will reportedly go on sale in Japan for 80,000 yen (approximately $815), making its touchscreen trackpad an expensive option. For further information, see the Akihabara News report, here, or Register Hardware report, here.
