US airport security authorities want laptop cases that make airport security screening faster.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued a request for bag designers and manufacturers to make a new style of carrying case which will allow airport X-ray machines to scan the bag without the passenger being required to take their computer out of its bag.
Currently, passengers with notebooks have to remove the computer from its case to have the bag scanned.
The TSA, the agency responsible for security at airports across the US, believes that by having an appropriately-designed bag where the passenger can keep their laptop in the bag, the security screening process could be sped up.
Laptop Cases Must Meet Airport Security Requirements
The TSA says the new laptop cases must meet airport security requirements - the most obvious of which, as is the case with all baggage, that the bag design must not disturb the quality of the X-ray image of the laptop itself.
Designers and manufacturers will be allowed to submit concept designs to the TSA until the middle of April.
After this, the TSA will produce a short-list of companies it believes will be able to provide the service.
These companies will then have until the end of May to submit their designs, which will then be examined by the TSA by running them through the security screening process, to see if the X-ray image presented meets the security requirements.
Several companies are already working on bag designs to submit to the TSA, including a firm called Targus.
Al Giazzon, from Targus, commented: "Our goal is to make heavy travelers' lives easier. The key is to keep the laptop separate from everything else. When it's laid flat and goes through the machine it must be visible without obstacles in the way".
He added: "One of the keys is that the bag design must make the laptop easy to see, while also providing protection. It's not as easy as wrapping it in piece of nylon. A regular back pack doesn't offer the same protection".
Source - Airport International's US Correspondent
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