Notebook snoops will be thwarted
New technology should help prevent prying eye in public
No one likes a nosey parker. But no matter where you use a notebook in public, it’s hard not to feel that someone is looking at what you are doing. Whether you are working, emailing or browsing the web, notebooks afford little in the way of privacy from prying eyes.
For this reason, Sharp’s latest LCD technology will offer system builders an exciting string to their bow, especially in the corporate notebook market.
The new LCD is designed to prevent unwanted snooping by allowing you to change the viewing angle of your notebook display to prevent people on either side of you from seeing what is on the screen. It works by an electrical on/off switch and will be suitable for notebooks, phones, PDAs or any other portable media device that uses an LCD display.
The Sharp LCD adds proprietary technologies such as a switching liquid crystal material, overlaid on an ordinary TFT LCD so that light is prevented from going to the left or right. This changes the wide viewing angle to a narrow viewing angle, so people sitting on either side of you cannot see what is on your screen. At least, not without making it very obvious that they are trying to sneak a peek.
Mass production of the LCDs starts this month. This is a complete reversal of what has been happening in LCD technology for years. A key selling point of LCDs was a wide viewing angle that makes it easier to see the screen from different angles. Now, finally, users will be able to flick a switch and essentially put their notebook into ‘public’ or ‘private’ mode. With hindsight, it’s hard to believe that this seemingly simple solution has not occurred to anyone sooner. Businesses are under increasing pressure to protect data, personal and otherwise, with company directors even facing a spell in the slammer for not taking all reasonable measures to guarantee data integrity.
It’s one of the reasons that notebook PCs are not more common in the workplace. After all, why provide employees with an expensive piece of hardware that they don’t really need and will probably end up breaking or leaving in the pub?
Make no mistake, though, this secretive LCD is not so much a serious security measure as a comfort blanket. For the growing ranks of mobile workers, privacy in public will be a big bonus and something they will be willing to shell out a few extra quid for. With the growth of wireless networks more and more people are using public hotspots in cafes, stations and airports to carry out work-related tasks.
It’s not just business users that will be snapping up this technology, though. Consumers, who are driving the whole notebook phenomenon, are ravenous for any technology tweak that will set their notebook apart from the crowd.
Everyone values privacy, regardless of whether the material or data they are using on their notebook is sensitive or not. That’s a selling point that works with people. It might not feature on the official return on investment hitlist used by companies when buying notebooks, but mobile professionals will agree that this is what they have been waiting for. Even if they never actually knew it.