It can be tough to discern the difference between an innovation or a gimmick in the computer world. One handy test: is the feature continually useful? In the case of this detachable touchpad on Acer's upcoming Aspire Ethos, we're going to venture a guess that it will be.

When you remove the touchpad, it suddenly becomes a versatile media remote to use with your Ethos laptop. If you look closely at the picture above, you'll even see a faint outline that hints at some buttons, and one can easily imagine changing a song from across the room during a party or pausing a video while someone gets up to use the restroom.

That said, controlling a laptop via remote control isn't anything new — several Apple computers come with them in the box, actually — but integrating that functionality into a removable touchpad means it's always with you and never cluttering up your bag.

The rest of the package is a little more boring, as the Aspire Ethos itself looks like you'd expect a laptop to look:

Acer plans to have the Aspire Ethos out mid-June, if you're interested.

Acer, via PCWorld