ThinkPad creator talks touchscreens

Posted by | 11/25/2009 | 0 Comments

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Arimasa Naitoh, widely recognized as father of the Thinkpad, and current Lenovo VP for Notebook Development and the head of the Yamato Development Labs, spoke to a group about, among other things, the challenges of implementing capacitive touchscreens on their T400s and X200 series. The event was captured on video and posted by Engadget.

Toward the end, he explains how it wasn’t just a matter of slapping a digitizer behind the screen. They found and solved problems with interference from cellphones and even the LCD itself, as well as keeping the hinge strong enough hold up to poking at the screen while still being pliable enough to close. He also points out the touchpad will remain a key component and demos some of Lenovo’s custom touchscreen functions.

Fair warning: the video is pretty rough to watch with sunlit windows in the background, the refreshing of an LCD, and poor accoustics, which are not helped by Mr. Naitoh’s accent. I grew up hearing Japanese accents, and it was a challenge for me.

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Category: Hardware

About the Author (Author Profile)

My name is Mark Sumimoto; I am Sumocat. I dabble in all areas of mobile computing, but my focus is Windows-based Tablet PCs and pen input. They’ve been part of my arsenal since 2004, and I’m proud to have pioneered the field of ink blogging, earning a spot as a Microsoft MVP for Touch and Tablets in the process. My current tools include a Fujitsu Lifebook T900, TEGA v2, and iPhone 4. Email me: sumocat [at] notebooks.com