Intel has just unveiled a new dual screen notebook called the Tiger Rapid. It features a full HD LCD display on one side, and an E Ink screen on the other, and both are powered by a single eighth-generation Core processor. This new device harkens back to almost a decade ago when the Entourage Edge first came out.
This concept tablet and ereader hybrid will not be officially released by Intel, but they developed it as a way to show its device manufacturer partners how to implement technologies like using an an e-paper display as a keyboard or jotting down notes with the active stylus.
Gregory Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of the Intel Client Computing Group said that they worked on this design for over two years. Bryant explains how the prototypes express a design goal he defines as adaptable form factors. “Conceptually, it’s not a one-size fits all world,” Bryant says. “You’re going to see secondary products of different shapes and sizes, people are going to do secondary displays, obviously we’re going to work on longer-term things like bendables and foldables.”
Bryant emphasized that the motivation behind these designs was to make the PC bend to its user, not the other way around. “It’s not doing it because you can do it. It’s creating these adaptable form factors that fit the work that you’re trying to do.”
The E Ink part of the device is 7.8 inches and the other features 7.9-inch LCD display. Underneath it all is a Kaby Lake Core processor, an SSD, Wi-Fi, and an undisclosed amount of memory. With its 12-wHr battery, the Tiger Rapids can last an estimated 7 to 8 hours, and charges back up via the single USB-C port on its edge.
Intel has said that this concept E Ink tablet will be released by a partner sometime in the next two to three years. Maybe Lenovo will do something with its Yogabook or Microsoft will do something drastically different with the Surface lineup, maybe they might finally release the Courier.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
