One of the most most important pieces of hardware on a laptop is the touchpad. Anything that provides direct I/O between the system and the user should be carefully tested and thoughtfully designed. Odd then, is it that on many notebooks the touchpad feels like the one part that could have used some additional tweaking.
Synaptics could have the solution that could finally right a lot of wrongs. The company's ClickPad 2.0 technology was named as an International CES Innovations 2014 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree.
Like many modern designs, ClickPad 2.0 has no buttons, instead relying on a hinge to make the entire surface clickable. In a briefing, Tom's Hardware was told that this is the most solid hinge design the company has built yet, and is available now in the HP Spectre 13 ultrabook. (Hands-on by LAPTOP.)
Along with ClickPad 2.0, Synaptics developed TypeGuard, an accidental contact mitigation algorithm that can differentiate between a finger and a palm, helping to minimize unintended inputs.
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