Windows! Yes, not the phone, or the operating system, but the thing you fling open when it’s too hot, wave to your friends from, and perhaps throw rubbish out of. Samsung’s turning your household glass into a touchscreen wonder.
Mea culpa — this is probably the one thing we genuinely missed out on at CES. A sole regret. Chalk it up to the fog of war — or maybe because from afar, Samsung’s “Smart Window” looks just like… a window. At any rate, this thing is very cool, and unlike most “smart” (ugh) products we saw, actually looks like it could fit into a sci-fi home of the near future.
Essentially, the Smart Window is Haier’s transparent TV, only not utterly stupid and pointless. In actuality, it’s a TFT LCD panel with the ability to go fully transparent, like any other pane. But floating across the glass are a diversity of apps and images — you can check the weather, read email, Twitter and recipes. Or just watch TV. It’s all touch-controlled, and looks very smooth. And worry not, food and porn multitaskers — Mobile Nations says the panel will only be visible from the inside.
I balk a little at Samsung’s idea that I’m ever going to lean across my kitchen counter for serious computing stuff, but for casual info peeks, it’d be a nice little luxury. And that virtual blinds feature! Pure eye lollipops and gumdrops. Just make sure your neighbourhood baseball-slugging kids are at a safe distance when this thing arrives someday, or never. [Samsung]
Ash
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:16 AMGreat, so in the near future to check the weather outside you will be able to go to the window and look it up online.
chugs
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:45 AMso if was watching some porn on my kitchen window would the neighbours get a back to front image shown from the outside?
Bloomy
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:46 AMI like it! less clutter on my desk. Though it will obviously need architects and designers to start changing the way we use and place windows in our houses for it to become a desktop monitor replacement.
I suspect its use case is more like a dashboard or information kiosk. Even in the home, maybe its the window near your kitchen table, or behind your kitchen sink. You can use it ad hoc whilst cooking and eating and sharing things with friends at the dinner table.
Vebi
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:50 AMCue dirty, smeared windows after you use your computer. It’ll look like you have a child at home, after which no one bothers to clean up.
LeoWski
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:31 AMSo now instead of buying drapes/etc you can use electricity and have it *dim* the screen. Yay for more power usage in the home at every window!
(Still it *is* nice)
Inquisitorsz
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:37 AMI quite like this. It would be perfect as a window in the kitchen near a benchtop or above the sink. Obvioulsy there are some issues like standard window frame sizes and tht fact that it’s too small for a normal bedroom window, and ofcourse cost.
Still – very interesting. It’s got alot of potential
TSH
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 10:52 AMPut the tech in sunglasses – effectively Transitions lenses that allow you to privately watch some pr0n (or Starcraft commentary) on the way to work in the morning. ^__^
Dr_Stef
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 9:15 PMImagine how silly you would look from outside if the graphics are not visible from outside