Neowin says that Apple has a patent for lighting up the trackpad and iPod clickwheel when you use them. Big whoop. My Logitech diNovo Edge already does this. Unfortunately for that device, the trackpad is way too small and the scrolling feature bites. But it has a light-up trackpad and excellent keys.
Speaking of Logitech diNovo, have you seen the Mini keyboard? This would have been perfect when I had my PC as my DVR (which is why I bought the Edge keyboard in the first place). What they need to do, though, is combine this Bluetooth keyboard with the Harmony 1000 remote! A touchscreen, event-driven IR/RF remote that can flip up to reveal a keyboard and trackpad.
We just got a new Toshiba projector at work. It has a “Network Projector” functionality that’s compatible with Windows Vista. We’ve all eschewed Vista around here, so there’s no way for us to play with that feature. It got me thinking, though. Thin-client devices would work pretty well with that kind of functionality. A device with a screen, keyboard, and touchpad could send input data over the network to the server and the server would just send screen data back to the client. The device wouldn’t need much else than a wireless network card and a small processor to handle data routing from the network to the screen and from the keyboard/trackpad to the network. It wouldn’t work without a server, of course. Really, though, the same functionality could be put into TVs to allow you to view your computer easily. Input would be handled by a little bluetooth mini keyboard.
