The laptop has a primary LCD screen in the usual position and three small OLED (organic light-emitting diode) touch screens just above the keyboard. Code-named Tangent Bay, the system is being shown at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.

The prototype on display here isn't particularly stylish-looking, but the extra screens might add some convenience. In a demonstration, they were used to display a music playlist, a photo album and a calculator, which could all be operated via the touch screens while running a different application on the main screen.

Tangent Bay pushes the limits on the number of screens available on laptops. Companies including Lenovo have released two-screen laptops, with an auxiliary display that slides out behind the main LCD screen.

Intel is showing the prototype in the hope that systems builders will pick up the design and offer a commercial product. The division of Intel that builds these prototypes earlier came up with the small mobile Internet devices, or MIDs, which were offered by some companies.

Intel Marketing Manager Renuka Awasthi, offering another example of how a four-screen system might be useful, said a person scouring the Web for a vacation deal could launch a calculator, weather site and chat session on the other screens.