In a series or recently published patent applications, Lenovo reveals that they're working on providing new touch controls or touch keys to both notebooks and tablets. Lenovo envisions using the traditional top "F Key" row found on all notebooks to work as a Windows 8 Tile controller of sorts. As illustrated above, Windows 8 users will be able to program which keys will match what tiles on Windows 8 so that open quickly. To remain consistent, Lenovo wishes to extend this idea through to their future tablets if not right through to smartphones by adding tile buttons to the device's bezel.
Single Tap to Tiles
In Lenovo's patent FIG. 8A shown below we see an example of user configuring of a touchable control area 810A of a notebook. A user may open an interface on the main display via a single tap on a menu tile that displays a plurality of configuration options on the main display. In plain English, Lenovo is describing how users will be able to quickly call up specific Windows 8 user interface tiles by a simply tapping a key of your notebook.
In a secondary patent on the same subject, Lenovo presents FIG. 7A-C. Lenovo states that a home tile may be configured to sense touch input, such as a single tap, that when sensed executes an application function, similar to a conventional touchscreen display. For example, touching the home tile in a power-on state may return a user to a "home view", such as on a tablet computing device, or may return the touchable control area 710 to the power-on default configuration if pressed in an updated configuration.
The tiles may be dynamically changed to accommodate different touch zones, different display zones, different haptic feedback zones, and/or different audible feedback zones, as further described herein.
Lenovo's patent FIG. 5F noted above is an example of a touchable control area (510F) that is integrated within the tablet's bezel (530F).
All three of Lenovo's patents were filed in Q3 2011 and published recently by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
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