ASUS ScreenPad could be the Touch Bar for (some) Windows devices

The 2016 MacBook Pro introduced a rather unique concept to the company's laptops, the Touch Bar. The new touch panel replaced the function keys on the keyboard and it allowed for buttons to be adapted to the content on the screen.

The feature has been unrivaled so far, but new extensions discovered by WindowsBlogItalia show that ASUS might be working on a similar concept for Windows devices.

As spotted by the website, there are a number of extensions that work with a wide variety of services, such as Spotify, Youtube, and Office. Much like the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, these extensions would provide easy access to certain features within apps. In Spotify, it could make it easier to control music playback, while Office apps could provide shortcuts to common functions through ScreenPad. There's also a Launcher app, which - as the name suggests - seems to serve as a shortcut to various apps.

The listings don't make clear what exactly ScreenPad is, so it could be a separate accessory or something the company is planning to introduce as part of its devices. However, they do mention some system requirements for the features to work:

1. Combined precision touchpad with ASUS PTP driver and touch screen;

2. A dGPU model with Nvidia GTX 970 GPU that supports direct mode;

3. Toshiba TC358870XBG Video Bridge IC and ITE8225 MCU

While these point to higher-end notebooks, it's still unclear which devices we could be looking at exactly. The listings for the different extensions also showcase what could be the UI for the devices, which looks much more square-ish than the Touch Bar.

Source: WindowsBlogItalia via Liliputing