New firmware for the HP Lap Dock improves Elite x3 touchpad experience

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HP has pushed out a small firmware update for the Elite x3's Lap Dock, which I coincidentally reviewed this morning. The update was first spotted in our forums by Christian_1 who did the update last night.

Since the Lap Dock is so new and part of its update infrastructure is just coming online, I'll explain how to go about checking and installing the firmware.

First, let's cover what is new with the Lap Dock's update.

HP Lap Dock Firmware Revision: T0057

  • Touchpad Support for touchpad physical click, drag and drop
  • Keyboard backlight is on by default and turns off after 15 seconds of no keyboard activity

Obviously, not a huge update, but an important one. The first change refers to how the touchpad relied on single taps to do tasks in Continuum. Now, you can do that and press down to click the touchpad (before, nothing happened with this action). This behavior now mimics how most Windows laptop touchpads operate.

The second piece is important for conserving battery life and is self-explanatory.

How to check and upgrade firmware

HP are building out a very vital ecosystem for the Elite x3. One of the pieces to that puzzle is the HP Device Hub, which is an app that comes pre-installed on the Elite x3 to manage your device, warranty, and regulatory information as well as send feedback directly to HP about your Elite x3. There is also a User Guide and contact support for assistance.

HP are also initiating a push notification service to let the user know of new firmware availability (see screenshot below).

  1. Connect Elite x3 to Lap Dock
  2. Run HP Device Hub on the Elite x3
  3. Wait a few seconds for information to refresh
  4. Under Lap Dock firmware it should inform you of the current version as well as check for new updates
  5. Download and install the update through the phone while wired to Lap Dock
  6. Once completed long-press the power button on the Lap Dock and hold for 10 seconds to reboot the machine

It's a straight forward process and only takes a few minutes (the firmware is tiny). The same principle also applies for the HP Desk Dock for the Elite x3 as well.

So far, HP has been very aggressive with updates. The Elite x3 itself has had three firmware upgrades since its release and now we are starting to see its Dock accessories gain the same. With no carriers involved and enterprise clients to impress HP has a clear path to keeping their product running well and adding new features.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.