Lenovo is throwing ideas at the wall with new modular accessories for the magnetic Magic Bay connector of its ThinkBook 16P Gen 6 laptop. The company announced at Mobile World Congress four different proof-of-concept add-ons that may or may never be released, and they’re as cool as they are quirky:
There aren’t many details on the concepts, though the 2nd Display and Dual Screen are the most straightforward. They’re meant for people who want a mobile multi-monitor setup that doesn’t require a secondary device to plug in or keep charged. The 2nd Display is like attaching an 8-inch iPad Mini to your laptop, with a vertical orientation that could be great for social feeds and communication apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams. It has a 1920 x 1200 resolution 60Hz panel, which is plenty of resolution for a small screen.
The Dual Screen Concept takes the ThinkBook 16P Gen 6 and turns it into a triple-monitor setup. The two attachable displays are each 13.3 inches with 2880 x 1920 resolution and 120 Hz refresh. They weigh a hefty 2.62 pounds / 1.2kg, nearly as heavy as carrying a 13-inch MacBook Air with your ThinkBook. I saw this setup and the 2nd Display Concept in an early in-person preview, and while having a triple-monitor laptop ready on-demand seemed awesome, it was also just A Lot. The Dual Screen Concept was cumbersome to set up, fold down, and put away. On the other hand, the 2nd Display was easy to work with and felt like a no-brainer if it ever comes to market.
As for the pair of Tiko concepts, I didn’t get to see them but oh boy are these such different ideas sharing the same name. Lenovo doesn’t have many details yet on the Tiko Pro horizontal screen attachment, but having an additional display for widgets seems nifty. I bet its teleprompter function would sell many units on that sole feature.
But the Tiko emoji friend looks like an absolute charmer. It’s a circular screen to display what Lenovo calls, “A compact AI emotional interaction companion” that “helps users stay informed and engaged throughout their workday.” I’m all about emojis, and this is an emoji buddy you can attach to your laptop.
It looks similar to the aptly-named AI Buddy Lenovo showed at its recent Tech World Conference, which was designed for a desktop. The Buddy was a voice-enabled AI chatbot that could also take actions on your computer for you. The Tiko Pro, at least based on Lenovo’s early indications, seems more like a lighthearted plaything you can casually interact with. For example, you can make a heart hand gesture at it and it’ll react with hearts, and you can put it in a cute cat case — complete with a tail!
I don’t know why the business-focused ThinkBook 16P Gen 6 is simultaneously the platform for multi-monitor features for power users and a digital equivalent to an emotional support animal, but I’m here for it regardless. Let’s see if any of these concepts survive the cutting room floor.
