Neonode’s AirBar brings touch-screen functionality to your laptop for $49

Neonode’s AirBar brings touch-screen functionality to any device in an elegant and cost-effective package. It’s a simple USB device that sits near the bottom of your laptop’s screen, bathing it in a grid of invisible, infra-red light. The device will let you use gestures, navigate menus and all the other touch-screen goodness that we’ve come to expect from a modern computing device. We first got a glimpse of the device at CES 2016 and we’re sad to report that it’s still not available on sale. However, you can pre-order the device on Neonode’s site for about $49 (Rs.3,400). There have been other devices that have attempted to bring touch screen functionality to your laptop, such as leap motion’s own controller. The device is available in a Matte black finish for 11.6-inch, 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch laptop screens. Support for PCs will be coming soon. The device is elegant in that it’s just a slim strip of plastic and metal that connects to your device via USB. Neonode indicates that the device is only compatible with devices running Windows 8 or later, and also with Chromebooks. MacOS support is sketchy at best. There are no details on how the device works exactly, but we surmise that it’s mimicking a touchpad, albeit an invisible, infra-red one, and leverages Windows’ and ChromeOS’s in-built gesture support to accomplish its task. Giving your aging laptop a new lease of life with this device seems like a no-brainer, especially at the price.