This video has a young lady reading a comic book on your V370 for a couple of panels, decidedly shaking her head at the absurdity of the situations she’s taking in. Once she folds the notebook up and walks through her workspace to head home, she runs into a pack of zombies as well as a an evil bossman, all of them comical enough to make any television watcher turn their head and pay attention. Then all madness breaks loose.

How on earth it makes sense to have several mobile games and Bruce Lee defend the future of the Lenovo notebook lineup, we may never know. How we’ll reconcile being able to watch such things from the comfort of our own home in preparation for a laptop – we don’t mind skipping thinking about that one either. Enjoy the craziness that is the promotion of a dying breed here in 2012.

Lanci left Acer in March last year, reportedly over disagreements around product strategy. He and the Acer board “placed different levels of importance on scale, growth, customer value creation, brand position enhancement, and on resource allocation and methods of implementation” the official statement claimed, with insiders indicating Lanci wanted to put more emphasis on mobile products such as phones and tablets.

“Gianfranco brings years of expertise and insights to Lenovo that will help us strengthen our growing global consumer business” Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang said of Lanci’s new role last year, though Acer apparently wanted him to keep those insights to himself. The Chinese firm has ambitious growth plans for 2012 and beyond, dependent on building more of a footprint outside of the enterprise market it has historically seen success in.

Neither Lanci nor Lenovo have commented on the lawsuit, which Acer has submitted to the Italian courts.

[via Google+]

This upgrade will begin in May, so says Lenovo, and three giant upgrades will come through as featured bits aside from the Ice Cream Sandwich features you should know well from our review of the tablet-based ICS a few weeks ago. This version comes first and foremost with a new and improved web browser. This new browser is said by Lenovo to allow you to jump to your favorite content a whole heck of a lot faster and save pages for offline browsing easier than ever.

Next there’s Voice Input for onscreen dictation. While you speak, the words appear on the screen, and your voice input engine underlines text it believes it heard but might be incorrectly translated. After you’ve finished speaking, all you’ve got to do is tap these words and suggestions for correct words will appear. This is available on the Galaxy Nexus currently as well – check out our review of Ice Cream Sandwich for smartphones back at the release of that gem.

Finally there’s Face Unlock, the same screen-unlock feature you see advertised by Samsung and Google as unbreakable by a 4 year old child with finger mustache. This unlock feature comes with Ice Cream Sandwich and, like most features, is able to be activated or de-activated by the manufacturer. Users will be able to see an Over the Air update on their ThinkPad tablet starting in May, again, and the update will roll out across the month.

This laptop has a rubber bumper on the top cover, a 33% increased strength set of corners over previous models just incase you drop it on its side, and the strongest hinges Lenovo has on a laptop yet with up to 30,000 cycles. There’s also reinforced and recessed ports for USB and power action that’ll reduce the amount of “wear and tear” you experience, and the bezel around the display is 1.2mm thick to keep the screen intact. The whole unit also weighs in at less than four pounds so it’ll fit right in your backpack just fine.

The battery on this little beast will last you up to 8.5 hours, you’ll be running Windows 7 Professional right out of the box, and you’ve got an instant 1-year warrantee for all sorts of breaks and mishaps. There are two different models available for this laptop right this moment, the first being the entry level model at $429.00 USD, the second being a slightly more high performance model at $549.00 USD. The higher grade model features an Intel Core i3-2367M processor – so go grab it!

[via Lenovo]

“We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on … Why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice” Anonymous former Apple executive

According to insiders, Apple – and other companies – face “an unresolved tension” internally over awareness of labor conditions at suppliers and the ongoing pressure to reduce product costs and maintain a rapid production schedule. That tension, it’s suggested by one former Apple exec, is a partial reason why annual supplier checks such as those the company carries out are undermined. “If you see the same pattern of problems, year after year, that means the company’s ignoring the issue rather than solving it,” the ex-employee suggested “Noncompliance is tolerated, as long as the suppliers promise to try harder next time. If we meant business, core violations would disappear.”

A follow-up report quoted responses from Chinese readers, many expressing frustration at the work conditions and the apparent willingness of Western consumers to overlook what goes on at Foxconn and other factories. However, others took issue at the Apple focus of the report, suggesting that the outlook at companies supplying Samsung, Lenovo and other firms is no better:

“If not to buy Apple, what’s the substitute – Samsung? Don’t you know that Samsung’s products are from its OEM factory in Tianjin? Samsung workers’ income and benefits are even worse than those at Foxconn. If not to buy iPad – (do you think) I will buy Android Pad? Have you ever been to the OEM factories for Lenovo and ASUS? Quanta, Compaq … factories of other companies are all worse than those for Apple” Anonymous commenter

In the end, then, the onus appears to be on the end-consumer: a focus on price above all else will only force all electronics suppliers to chase the bottom line in production.

“You can either manufacture in comfortable, worker-friendly factories, or you can reinvent the product every year, and make it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that seem harsh by American standards” a current Apple executive told the newspaper under condition of anonymity. “And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China.”

This device has another name, that being the LePhone S2, this harkening back to all of our memories of the LePhone as the smartphone world developed over the past few years, Lenovo along with it. The S2 has a 3.8-inch display at WVGA resolution, runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and has an 8-megapixel camera on the back. That’s no joke for a device that also has one of the best single-core processors out there: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5GHz MSM8255.

This device will be released in two iterations, one with 512MB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, the other with 1GHz RAM and 16GB internal storage. With a release in China exclusively, at least at the start, we can’t help but wonder when Lenovo will make their move with smartphones here in the USA. Will it be with the Medfield-toting K800, or will it be with this little gem?

“When we took over [development] in April we took a conscious decision to focus on Android,” said vice president of Intel’s architecture group Dave Whalen. “Windows, other operating systems – we recognize that there will be opportunities. It’s not a ‘no’, it’s just not now. When the time’s appropriate we’ll look at other OSs.”

Intel’s first smartphones will be launched by Lenovo in China and by Motorola elsewhere. We had a chance to see the Lenovo Racer-A reference design earlier at CES, which will be using Intel’s 1.6GHz dual-core Medifield SoC. The multi-year and multi-device deal with Motorola will see Android-based smartphones and potentially tablets with Intel chips launching later this year.

[via The Telegraph]

“[Intel] have taken some designs that were never meant for mobile phones and they’ve literally wrenched those designs and put them into a power-performance space which is roughly good enough for mobile phones” Warren East, CEO, ARM

To East, it’s ARM’s ability to coax high-definition multimedia and game-crunching power out of minimal battery charge that will keep it ahead of its considerably larger rival. “People want to do more things with their phones, but battery size remains constant” he suggests.

Intel’s smartphone chip plans have been a long time coming, and with more than one aborted attempt along the way. While the company has made its fortune from increasingly high-power desktop and laptop processors, the same strategies have not fared so well in mobile applications. There, the delicate balance between sucking through a smartphone-scale battery in a matter of hours and delivering the sort of performance users demand requires a far more frugal chip that, until now, Intel has been able to make.

The company believes it has the answer in Medfield, however, with a new dual-hyperthreading system – among other things – that help restore some of that power/thirst equilibrium. Lenovo has already shown off one design, the Racer-A, aka the K800, using the Z2460 and supposedly lasting all day, according to the manufacturer.

Lenovo Racer-A demo:

Riding high on Android and with its expertise in search, Google should’ve swept the board when it first turned its hand to smart TV. Instead, Google TV was lambasted for its confusing interface, patchy functionality and ever-changing line up of content (made unpredictable by Google’s apparent refusal to pay for licensing deals but instead attempting to harness free online streams). With the second-gen system now ready for prime time, the search giant has managed to coax some big names back onboard, as well as tease gamers with the promise of OnLive for console-quality play without any extra hardware beyond a wireless controller.

Samsung, Sony, LG and Vizio were all expected to bring Google TV powered sets to the show, and all but Samsung delivered. LG spared us the heavy-duty specs, only saying that its two Google TV sets would drop later this year and use a homegrown quadcore ARM chipset. Like Vizio, which announced the R-Series of Google TVs, LG has reskinned the core Google UI to suit its own interface styling. Vizio also had two set-top boxes, one adding a Blu-ray drive, the VAP430 and VBR430, which promise to make Google TV more affordable.

Sony, meanwhile, took another approach, not bothering with fully-integrated Google TV HDTVs but instead looking to two new set-top boxes instead. It’s possible the company learned the hard way from its first-gen Google TV sets, though the new Network Media Player NSZ-GS7 and Blu-ray Disc Player NSZ-GP9 are arguably more useful given there are plenty of people content with their existing TV but still wanting a smart upgrade.

Finally, Marvell brought along its ARMADA 1500 chipset and a reference design Google TV STB to demonstrate it. The company is pushing the design to its hardware partners, along with a useful upscaling addition that promises to make lower-res content and UI look better on a 1080p Full HD display.

As for Samsung, it stuck with its homegrown smart TV platform for CES, though reiterated its support for Google TV and promised that “a forthcoming offering will deliver an entirely distinct experience in the category” later in 2012. That’s not to say its hardware this week has been underwhelming, however. Our playtime with Samsung’s 60-inch smart TV – which packs Kinect-style motion and voice control – suggested the non-traditional navigation may be gimmicky but the core software is very strong, while integrated DIRECTV support and the potential for hardware upgrades along the line shows services aren’t being left behind either.

LG may have had Google TVs to show off, but it also pushed ahead with its own platform, and some models ramped up the extras to stand out of the crowd. The Cinema Screen 3D HDTVs, for instance, can use their 3D screen technology for dual-view gaming, each player getting their own full-screen view simultaneously.

Vizio, too, used its own VIA smart TV software on some of its other models, echoing Philips’ push for true theater-aspect 21:9 screens with the new XVT CinemaWide line-up. You’ll need a big living room to accommodate them – and Vizio will need more luck than Philips, which eventually axed its range – but if you’re a keen movie buff they might be a solid alternative to a projector.

Lenovo isn’t a name generally associated with TV, so the company’s K91 entrant to the home entertainment segment came as something of a surprise. Headed to Lenovo’s home territory China first, but with broader international availability expected after that, the K91 actually runs Android but Ice Cream Sandwich rather than Google TV (v.2 of which is based on 3.x Honeycomb) and has a custom UI to suit sofa-bound users.

Finally, Canonical is hoping the hunger for Linux-based smart TV platforms will see its own embedded Ubuntu system picks up steam. We were impressed by the performance on the Ubuntu TV the team had prepared for CES, though Canonical wouldn’t say much on the “multiple manufactures” apparently in talks about using the system. It’ll go head to head with Google’s renewed Google TV drive, that’s for sure, and the search giant’s known brand and significantly improved second-gen software could prove difficult to beat.

Convinced by Smart TV? Considering buying one of these sets, or holding out for more new hardware later in the year? Let us know in the comments!

HP experienced the greatest decline in US PC shipments, dropping 26.1 percent, followed by Acer with an 11.4 percent drop, Dell with 4.5 percent, and Toshiba with 2.2 percent. Overall, the US saw negative 5.9 percent growth based on data taken from the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011. Despite this, HP maintained its number one spot with over 4 million in shipments followed by Dell and then Apple in third.

The worldwide PC shipment drop of 1.4 percent included a 16.2 percent decline from HP and an 18.4 percent decline from Acer. Lenovo and Asus rose with 23 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively, while Dell managed a 7.8 percent increase. Once again, HP retained the top spot.

Ultrabooks quietly crept in during the fourth quarter of 2011, but didn’t make much of an impact on PC sales. However, with the abundance of new ultrabooks popping up at this weeks CES show, 2012 will likely be a big year for this new crop of MacBook Air-inspired notebooks. However, Gartner expects PC shipments to be temporarily lowered in the first half of 2012 due to HDD shortages caused by the October 2011 floods in Thailand.

AT&T‘s cluster of LTE devices was perhaps the biggest single launch of the show, with the carrier hoping to flood our attention with more than a half-dozen 4G handsets. There are some stand-out phones in among the torrent, however: the HTC Titan II, for instance, packs a whopping 16-megapixel camera, while Nokia‘s much-anticipated Lumia 900 brings polycarbonate unibody style to the US and marks the start of the Finn’s North American re-entry.

Otherwise there’s the Pantech Burst and Samsung Exhilarate, both attempting to drag LTE to the entry-level, with a $50 apiece price tag. Sony ditched the Ericsson name and passé hardware with the Xperia ion, toting a 720p HD display and sizable 12-megapixel camera; both it and its European HSPA+ Xperia S pack NFC and the promise of ICS in Q2.

Finally, Samsung‘s Galaxy Note gets a new, AT&T LTE version, offering a compelling – if perhaps tricky to pocket – smartphone/tablet hybrid with useful digital ink input and a beautiful 1280 x 800 display. It’s a phone we’ve coveted in Europe and we’re curious to see how it does in the US.

Verizon had fewer devices than AT&T, but some eagerly awaited ones nonetheless. Motorola brought the DROID 4 to the party, an LTE-toting QWERTY Android slider, along with the DROID RAZR MAXX. The latter answers a common complaint of the original DROID RAZR of last year, meagre battery life on LTE, throwing a huge 3,300 mAh battery at the phone while still measuring just 8.9mm thick. Those looking for superlative displays have the LG Spectrum to look forward to, another LTE device but offering a 1280 x 720 IPS panel with iPhone 4S-besting pixel density.

T-Mobile USA had a much quieter show than either of the big boys, perhaps still licking its wounds and pondering the future now the AT&T acquisition has been ditched. The carrier had just one new device to announce, the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G, supporting HSPA+ and – as the name suggests – being another iteration on the Korean company’s familiar Galaxy S II.

Then there are the outliers and oddities. Lenovo opened the show with its S2, headed to China first with an encrypted kernel to keep your data secure and malware-free, while ViewSonic attempted to bridge the work and home worlds with its dual-SIM ViewPhone 3. Beyond their core conceit it proved tough to work up much enthusiasm around either device.

Easier to like has been the Huawei Ascend P1 S and P1, two phones that take dieting very seriously. The “S” prefix device is a mere 6.68mm thick, with what looks to be Galaxy S II “inspired” styling helping it take – for the moment at least – the title of world’s thinnest smartphone. Perhaps more interesting, they both run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, still something of a rarity (all of the previously mentioned handsets are still using Gingerbread).

ASUS‘ Padphone – back in its 2012 redux – is a lot chunkier than the Huawei, certainly, but arguably more useful. Like the Ascend phones it’s now running Ice Cream Sandwich, but of course the Padphone also gets a tablet chassis in which it can be docked for big-screen browsing and multimedia playback. ASUS reckons it’ll hit shelves in the spring, though still isn’t talking pricing.

Finally Intel, a company that has been talking about entering the smartphone market for several years, but is only now looking like it’s building any sort of momentum. The freshly announced Atom Z2460 Medfield processor, along with deals with Motorola and Lenovo, should result in some actual handset launches by the end of the year, each running Android, with talk of tablets also making an eventual appearance.

Lenovo stopped by to demonstrate its Racer-A Atom reference design, an impressive 4.5-inch smartphone with a 1280 x 720 display, 8-megapixel camera, HSPA+ and a 1.6GHz dual-core processor. There may be a few tweaks to the aesthetics, but for the moment this is likely to be one of the devices Lenovo brings to market in the second half of this year. We’ll have to wait until then to find out whether Intel’s long-standing battery issues have been ironed out with Medfield.

Tempted by any of these smartphones? Or are you waiting for Mobile World Congress next month, to see what HTC and others have in store for 2012? Let us know in the comments!

The Classmate+ laptops, first introduced early last year, are designed to withstand rough treatment from student use. This new generation of Classmate+ laptops are designed to be even tougher, featuring a keyboard with enhanced water resistance, a stronger corner design, reinforced steel hinge, and a more durable DC jack.

The 10.1-inch anti-glare screen is available with capacitive touch and stylus capability on the convertible model and optional high-brightness or high-definition available to both models. The laptops run on an Intel Atom N2600 processor with up to 2GB DDR3 memory and up to 320GB HDD or up to 32GB SSD storage. They also offer three USB ports, VGA, an optional HDMI port, and webcam. Battery life is now extended to all-day use, up to 10 hours on a 6-cell battery.

The new Lenovo Classmate+ laptops will be available starting this month, however, they are limited to education and government customers only. Pricing is not listed and will vary depending on configuration options. The laptop comes in a standard gray color, but can be made in custom colors with a minimum quantity order.

Lenovo and LG opened proceedings, unable in their excitement to even wait for the CES preview days to spill the beans on the Lenovo ThinkPad T430u and LG Super Ultrabook Z330/Z430. Lenovo has been pushing ultrathin notebooks for years now, but with the T430u it shaves just enough off to fit into Intel’s sub-20mm category.

It’s likely to appeal more to road warriors counting on their IT departments to furnish their computing kit, perhaps, unlike the more consumer-centric LG Z330 and LG Z430. They offer the full gamut of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors and either 13.3- or 14-inch displays, and use a hybrid SSD/HDD setup to provide both rapid boot/resume times and capacious media storage.

So far so good, but LG’s machines were somewhat forgotten when Acer unveiled its waifish Aspire S5. A slimline mag-alloy chassis that tapers to a razor edge at the front, Acer’s machine has some neat design touches like the drop down full-width port panel on the back. Never one to shy away from spectacle, the whole process is motorized.

Acer in fact had more than one ultrabook to show, with the Aspire Timeline Ultra series stretching the category at the fringes. Larger displays and even integrated optical drives mean they’re not quite the ultrabook Intel intended, but perhaps better considered a hybrid of ultraportable and regular notebook.

HP hasn’t been shy about ultrabooks in the past, though it’s arguable whether the 14-inch HP ENVY 14 Spectre quite counts. Still, with a choice of Core i5 or i7 processors, both HDMI and Mini DisplayPort video outputs, Beats Audio and a sub-$1,400 starting price, there’s no shortage of things to like.

Samsung already had an ultrabook-a-like in its back catalog, and so the Samsung Series 9 merely refined the proposition in its second generation. Clad in an eye-catching “stone metal” finish, it’s under half an inch thick and short of 2.5lbs, yet still manages to pack backlit keys.

It’s joined by the Samsung Series 5, a 15-inch almost-ultrabook in the same manner as the Acer Timeline Ultra. The LED display is a particular stand-out feature, managing to look clear, vivid and crisp even in dodgy trade-show lighting, and its sub-$1,400 tag will undercut the Series 9 too.

So far so good, but Dell through a spanner in its rivals’ works with the late launch of the Dell XPS 13. The company’s first ultrabook – though a machine with ultraportable heritage in the shape of the Adamo, among others – the XPS 13 turns to carbon-fiber for part of its construction, allowing Dell to fit a hefty Core i7 processor inside without worrying about overheating. “It’s the world’s best ultrabook” Dell insisted to us.

Then there’s the ultrabook pipeline, and both Toshiba and Intel stepped up with possible products we could expect to see late in 2012. Toshiba‘s 14-inch prototype relied on Windows 8 for its appeal, though had a slickly curved aluminum casing so that you could still catch admiring glances in the coffee shop.

Intel, meanwhile, pushed the boat out with a sliding, tilting concept that packs a 12- to 13-inch display – potentially a touchscreen – with a full QWERTY ‘board and the flexibility to use it either flat when walking around or notebook-style on a desk. Intel is hoping its OEM partners decide to adopt the design for future models, probably when Windows 8 brings its finger-friendliness to market later in the year.

Most eye-catching, though, had to be Intel’s Nikiski concept, an ultrabook packing a transparent, full-width trackpad that could be used as a preview display when the notebook was closed. Sadly the likelihood of the Nikiski reaching the market is around about zero.

Of course there’s another big name in ultrabooks, even if the company itself isn’t calling its ultraportable that. Apple‘s MacBook Air arguably helped shape each and every one of the machines mentioned above, and stands as the notebook to beat in the extreme-ultraportable segment.

Last refreshed in July 2011, with new Core i5 and i7 processors along with Thunderbolt connectivity – still only matched by the ASUS Aspire S5 this week – rumors late last year suggested Apple was already looking to bring out an updated model sometime in Q1. That’s likely to set the cat among the pigeons once again.

Convinced by Ultrabooks? Standing by with credit card in hand? Let us know in the SlashGear poll:

[poll id="24"]

Motorola’s deal is for a “multi-year, multi-device strategic relationship” that will see Atom chips arrive in smartphones from the company before the year is out. They’ll be Android-based, and the precursor to potential tablets using the Z2460 or other Medfield chips.

Lenovo Racer-A Intel smartphone reference design hands-on:

A similar arrangement has been made with Lenovo, and the first reference design certainly doesn’t stint on specs. The handset has a 4.5-inch 720p multitouch display, an 8-megapixel main camera and 5-megapixel front camera, along with HSPA+, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Of course the Motorola Mobility deal is particularly interesting, because Google is in the process of acquiring the smartphone and tablet manufacturer. Assuming that deal goes through, it will give Intel a direct line to Google and the Android project, hopefully accelerating work on Android-on-x86.

More on the Lenovo Intel smartphone in our full hands-on.

The X1 Hybrid is basically identical to the older version, so we’ll focus on the new Media Mode. This isn’t one of the “pre-boot environments” that was popular a few years ago. This is a completely separate operating system, which Lenovo says is a Linux-based open source system. The Media Mode launches from a Windows shortcut, immediately sending Windows into its sleep state.

Media Mode launches in under two seconds, and runs from the 16GB flash storage in the Qualcomm system-on-a-chip. It has access to all the network connections on the laptop, so built-in web browsing is a go. It can also access photos, videos and documents stored on the 16GB partition. There don’t appear to be any more apps than what are included.

The best part about Media Mode is the that it extends the X1′s battery life by double, according to Lenovo. That turns the standard 5-hour battery life into 10, and the extended slice battery from 10 to 20… assuming that you stay in the low-power mode.

The 13-inch ThinkPad X1 Hybrid will be available in the second quarter, starting at $1599.

At first glance, you’d mistake the IdeaPad Yoga for a newer version of the U300. It’s a little lighter at around 3.5 pounds, a little thinner at 17 millimeters, and a little nicer with a soft-touch finish, leather wrist rest and a glass trackpad. The demonstration unit booted straight into a developer beta of Windows 8 with the Metro user interface, which is instantly accessible with the touchscreen. Flip the screen back, and the screen goes into tablet mode, with full control of the touch-based UI.

Controls for power and volume are located only on the book-style edge, making control in tablet mode possible. When the dual hinge goes past 180 degrees, the laptop keyboard (now facing down) is disabled. Standard Ultrabook internals power the Yoga, with Intel Core i3/i5/i7 and as much as 256GB of SSD storage.

Lenovo aims to bring the IdeaPad to market in the second half of 2012. Initially Windows 7 will be offered (presumably with some added touch functionality) and a reconfigured model with Windows 8 will be sold when the new operating system launches.

This device will run Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread out of the box, WCDMA and HSPA+ connectivity, and LPDDR2 1GB + 32GB eMMC on the inside to keep you running quick and at the top of your game. The battery is 1890 mAh strong and will last the whole live-long day with the smartphone running a completely custom user interface over Android. This device is both light and relatively thin (or thick depending on who you’re talking to), and as you’ll notice – it’s got three Android capacitive buttons below the display.

This smartphone has five home screens and its user interface is very similar to what we’ve seen with the Lenovo Android dual-core tablets of 2011, but the launcher is Lenovo’s newest for smartphones specifically. Playing video at full resolution, you’ll be able to scrub or jump to any moment without lag. You can connect straight to your Lenovo Smart TV via Wi-fi, streaming video over your home network.

The camera is a dual-LED flash having 8 megapixels on the back with a 5 megapixel camera on the front – HD for both sides! The gallery application that comes with the device is unique in that it’s got a sort of 3D view to it, viewing images, zooming in and out with great ease and without a hitch. The ports on this device are thus: a microUSB port on the bottom right of the device, a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, and that’s it. There’s also a speaker grille at the top along with the power/lock button, and the back of the device is removable along with the battery.

Dual-Hyperthreading is being used on this device, taking all the bits of a process and making them work as effectively as possible, and the battery does not get eaten up while you process. The Intel Medfield chip makes all of this possible. This device is made to be an everywhere device, booting up in a matter of seconds and with details that make it great for education, business, and the home. Inside the device you’ll also find a compass, gyroscope, and GPS.

This device is upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich, mind you, plans in the works for an eventual upgrade inside 2012 – though the interface will likely remain quite similar to what it is right this minute. This device will be released inside the second half of 2012 in the China market. We’ll have a much closer look at this device later this year when its much closer to release time – seeya then!

They’re paired with up to 8GB of RAM and up to a 256GB SSD, while the battery is apparently good for up to 8hrs of runtime. Since you’re probably going to be twisting, propping and generally handling the YOGA a fair amount, Lenovo has sensibly clad the whole exterior in soft rubber paint, while the palm-rest gets a slab of leather.

Because of the hinge design, rather than using a single, bulky rotating hinge like other convertible notebooks, the YOGA comes in at just 16.9mm (0.67-inches) thick and 1.47kg (3.1lbs). Buttons are on the edges, so as to be accessible in all orientations.

We’re not entirely convinced that walking around with a keyboard exposed on the back of your tablet is necessarily the most ergonomic or practical way of doing things, but those who can’t give up their speedy text-entry but want some multitouch slate action nonetheless might find some appeal. The Lenovo YOGA is expected to go on sale in the second half of this year, priced from $1,199.

Inside the large screen, you get a Core i7 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM and connections built into the all-aluminum base. The screen looks like it’s 1920×1200, which is a little lower than we’d like to see at this size. There’s no word on price just yet, but it’s headed to various markets in April. Various Lenovo software additions take advantage of the size and touch capabilities, including an eye-catching piano program. I played Dixie. When you tire of finger-tapping rhythms, you can switch to a conventional keyboard and mouse.

Using it from a standing position eliminates the “gorilla arm” syndrome, and replicates working with an artist’s angled desk. Unfortunately the touch controls weren’t quick or responsive enough to keep up with my musical abilities - such as they are. High-end hardware including a Blu-ray drive option should make it an ideal media machine, assuming you’ve got the content to fill it.

Lenovo says the IdeaCentre A720 will go on sale in the first half of this year, priced from $1,299.

Interestingly, although the Lenovo K91 runs Android, it doesn’t actually offer Google TV. Instead, Lenovo has developed its own three-pane interface – pulling together regular TV programs, video-on-demand and internet-enabled apps – that sits on top of Ice Cream Sandwich. In contrast, Google TV v2.0 is actually cooked up from Honeycomb.

Lenovo K91 Smart TV with ICS hands-on:

That decision on Lenovo’s part could be down to the K91′s launch schedule: the smart TV will hit China first, before spreading to other territories, and currently Google TV is only officially supported within the US. It could indicate that, when the K91 does get its US launch, Lenovo might modify it to support Google TV, or that by the time the release takes place it could coincide with Google’s own international smart TV plans.

Exactly how much Google is paying manufacturers to use Android rather than their own smart TV OS is unknown, though the decision to switch to ARM-based chipsets likely means the actual hardware costs are minimal.

Update: We’ve been talking with Google, and the search giant denies that it’s paying TV manufacturers to use Android in their sets. We’re waiting for an official comment.

[via Inneractive]

This device runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8060 dual-core processor, runs Android apps left and right – from the Android Market and Lenovo’s own app store. You’ve got either the standard super smart remote control or the fabulously Playstation-esque gaming controller (for playing Asphault 6, of course), and it runs like a gem. And Ice Cream Sandwich DOES appear in a couple of places – notably in the facial recognition for screen unlock.

Right this minute there are no prices or release dates available, nor do we know much more about this television at the moment – but know this: this TV is set to start the Smart TV world on fire. A wild and crazy Android fire, at that.

I’ll start with the smaller sibling first — the Lenovo S2 5″ phone/tablet. With the 5″ Lenovo has equipped is with a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a fancy burnt orange color. Currently only for China we can hopefully expect the 5″ to head to other markets soon. Hopefully we’ll see Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich come to the phone/tablet hybrid too.

Making sure to hit the sizes of most tablets they also have the 7″ and 10″ versions on the floor — although we are still tracking down the latter. The Lenovo S2 7″ tablet specs are slightly improved to a more reasonable 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 1280 x 800 resolution display. Powered by Android 3.2 Honeycomb we expect an Android 4.0 update to follow shortly.

Along with that keyboard dock, the IdeaTab S2 10 can run for a whopping 20hrs, or so Lenovo reckons. The company has obviously learned its lesson from ASUS and the Transformer and Transformer Prime, but it’s such a good idea we’ll forgive them “borrowing” it.

Android Market access along with Lenovo’s own App Shop store are present, and Lenovo is playing up its “Personal Cloud” vision where devices like the IdeaTab play neatly and nicely with other home entertainment kit such as the K91 Android-based smart TV.

Lenovo will be showing the IdeaPad S2 10 off at CES this week; unfortunately we’ll have to wait a little longer to see the ICS slate hit shelves. Availability is China-only for the moment, but the company says it plans to bring the 10-incher to other markets in due course. We’ll likely find out about pricing at that point.

Lenovo IdeaPad S Series

“Netbook” has become a dirty word in computing so allow Lenovo to endear you to the IdeaPad S200 and S206, two models supposedly offering a little more than what you might expect from a netbook. Each has an 11.6-inch HD widescreen display, Atom dual-core processor (S200) or AMD dual-core processor (S206) and up to 32GB SSD, they’re 0.81-inches thick and 2.8-pounds on the scales.

Chiclet keys, WiFi b/g/n and optional Bluetooth, along with a 0.3-megapixel webcam and Lenovo Quick Start “instant on” are useful, but the 4hrs of battery life seems on the low side. The S200 and S206 will go on sale in June from $349.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z Series

The IdeaPad Z580, Z480 and Z380 offer 15.6-inch, 14-inch and 13.3-inch displays, respectively, with Intel Core processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce GT640M 2GB graphics powering 1366 x 768 resolution panels and HDMI outputs. DVD or Blu-ray drives, WiDi and various multimedia processing apps lean on the entertainment message. They’ll go on sale in April from $599.

Lenovo IdeaPad G Series

Lenovo’s affordable line-up kicks off from $399 in June, with the F480, G580 and G780 offering 14-, 15.6- and 17.3-inch displays respectively. Veriface facial recognition, sensible and durable designs and basic multimedia are on offer.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y Series

$899 upwards gets you the Lenovo IdeaPad Y Series, out in April, with the Y480 having a 14-inch Full HD display and the Y580 having a 15.6-inch Full HD display. Intel Core processors, up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX660M 2GB graphics and Dolby Home Theater V4 sound paired with JBL speakers round out a multimedia and gaming powerhouse, while the backlit keyboard and HD camera with night-view are neat touches. A TV tuner is optional, and works with the WiDi wireless display streaming.

The IdeaPad U310 is 0.7-inches thick and 3.74-pounds, with Intel Core processors paired with GMA 3000 HD graphics powering its HD 16:9 aspect display. The IdeaPad U410, meanwhile, is 0.83-inches thick and 4.18-pounds, with processors from the same Intel range but paired this time with NVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB graphics.

Each supports Intel WiDi for wireless display streaming, and they’ll come in a choice of “fun colors”: Aqua Blue, Cherry Blossom, Graphite Gray, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Spearmint. Software-wise it’s Windows 7 with Lenovo’s Smart Update tool, which automatically keeps your mailbox, IM and social media messages up to date, even when the IdeaPad is in sleep mode.

Battery life is up to eight hours, Lenovo claims. The Lenovo IdeaPad U Series will go on sale in May, priced from $699.

Lenovo has apparently skinned the K91 with a “Sandwich” UI, pulling together traditional TV shows, video-on-demand (VoD) and internet apps. VoD is available in HD quality and automatically pulls out suggestions based on viewing history, plus there’s access to the Android Market and the homegrown Lenovo Store for games and other titles.

As well as a traditional remote, there’s voice control and speech recognition, while ICS’ Face Unlock feature can be used to turn on the TV itself. Thanks to Android’s networking capabilities you can access cloud-based content as well as stream media between PC, tablet, smartphone and the K91; you can also turn your smartphone or tablet into a remote. Lenovo has also prepared a gaming controller, for when you’d rather shoot something.

Unfortunately all this Android TV goodness isn’t going to be broadly available, at least initially. Lenovo says the K91 Smart TV is available in China immediately, with launches in the rest of the world “at a later date.” No word on pricing at this stage.

That’s a disappointment, but Lenovo has skinned the smartphone with its Mondrian UI so users might not notice much difference, at least on the surface. Other specs include an 8-megapixel main camera and a front-facing camera, with panoramic photo support and instant cloud-sync with the online storage space Lenovo bundles with each phone.

Interestingly, aesthetically the Lenovo S2 looks a whole lot like the leaked Lenovo Windows Phone handset spotted back in November. At the time, the company confirmed that it was working on a Windows Phone device, but said it would not be ready for primetime until the second half of 2012.

As with the TV and tablet, Lenovo is offering the S2 smartphone in China first, with a roll-out in other territories not coming until later. No word on when, exactly, that might be, nor what sort of price-tag the S2 could be carrying when indeed it arrives.

It also has NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 2GB graphics and optional 3D support, making it a reasonable prospect for gaming, too. Both it and the Lenovo IdeaCenter B340 have picture-in-picture for TV and computing, switchable at the touch of a button, and – since the TV tuner is independent from the PC – you can use both AIOs just as a TV. 720p webcams and a choice of DVD or Blu-ray drives round out the key specs; both will go on sale in June, priced from $699.

As for the IdeaCentre K430, that offers dual graphics support (either NVIDIA SLI or ATI CrossFireX) and twin HDDs, along with a choice of Intel Core processors paired with up to 32GB of DDR3 memory. Up to 4TB of HDD or 128GB of SSD storage are on offer, and there’s a removable 500GB hard-drive in a caddy in the front bay. It will go on sal in May, from $599.

Finally, the diminutive Lenovo H520s will arrive in June from $499. Few specs on this one, but Lenovo will be loading it with various family-friendly apps and tools to make drive maintenance and networking straightforward.

The ThinkPad X1 Hybrid is an updated version of the super-skinny X1, reconfigured with an eye towards utility. Claiming double CPU performance and quadruple graphics from an integrated Intel chip, Lenovo is positioning the 13-inch X1 Hybrid as a business-class laptop with excellent media features. Those include a high-definition display (not detailed) with Corning Gorilla Glass, an HD webcam, Dolby Home Theater sound and both HDMI and Intel Wireless Display technology. To satisfy your IT admin you get an encrypted hard drive and remote system management, plus a fingerprint reader. Processor options will include Core i3, i5 and i7.

Lenovo has addressed battery issues with two features: a low-power Media Mode powered by a separate Qualcomm dual-core processor (hence the Hybrid name), and RapidCharge technology that allows it to fill 80% of its battery in 30 minutes. The Media Mode loads up a custom operating system that should sip battery while still giving users access to WiFi connections, Internet browsing and basic files. Think of it as a tablet that’s trapped inside a ThinkPad body. The X1 is factory rated for 10 hours of battery life, though the longevity of the Instant Media Mode was not disclosed.

On the lower end of Lenovo’s business scale is the ThinkPad T430u, which they’re calling an “Ultrabook that’s all business.” It would take a lot for an Ultrabook to match the power, utility and economy that the 14-inch T400 series has provided thus far, but they’re giving it their best with a choice of Intel Core processors and integrated or discrete Nvidia graphics, an SSD or massive 1TB traditional hard drive, six hours of battery life and a quick boot feature. The .8-inch laptop is downright svelte for a T-series, and it’s got a stylish aluminum lid that should look better than the typical ThinkPad soft-touch finish.

New entries into the ThinkPad Edge series of more conventional laptops were announced as well. The new S series gets its first entry in the Mocha Black S430, which Lenovo is advertising as less than an inch thick. The 14-inch laptop has optional Nvidia graphics, Dolby sound, USB 3.0 ports and a snazzy new Thunderbolt port. It comes with a choice of SSD or up to a terabyte hard drive. The S430 will be available in June starting at $749.

On the lower end the E series gets all-new versions in 14 and 15-inch bodies, named the ThinkPad Edge E430 and E530, respectively. Options include either Intel Core processors or AMD’s Fusion platform, with integrated or discrete graphics choices for both. The same solid state and 1TB hard drive choices are present with USB 3.0 and an HD webcam. The ThinkPad E130 and E330 are the 11.6 and 13.3-inch variants using Intel processors, while the E135 and E335 use AMD. All models should be available in April, starting at $549 in a range of black, red or blue colors.

The Lenovo B series also gets some love.  The unassuming affordable line has new 14-inch models called the B480 and B485, and 15-inch models labelled B580 and B585. Intel and AMD processor are split from the same as the E series above. Optional additions include 1TB hard drives, USB 3.0, HDMI and multi-card readers, with the base machines starting at a price of just $499. The new B series models will also be available in April.

More exacting details like specific resolutions and battery power weren’t provided, but you can bet the new models will be on display at Lenovo’s CES booth. Check in next week for some hands-on time with all of Lenovo’s latest offerings.

The S110 has that N2600 inside and packs a 320GB HDD, 1GB of RAM, and a 10.1-inch HD resolution screen. The machine has options for a 720p webcam and a 3G modem as well. Other interesting specs include a USB 3.0 port, and the machine is very svelte as well with a 16mm thick profile and 1.15kg weight.

Lenovo is teasing the machine on video, which you can check out below. The S110 is on some retailer websites already with a price listed at around $330. The official MSRP is still unknown. The Cedar Trial parts are expected to bring more performance to the netbook realm with better graphics and more. The better processors might give the sagging netbook category a bit of a reprieve.

[via TheVerge]

The firm thus “enhanced its stature” in the market, one in which government approval of a firm can play a significant part as to which external players homegrown businesses will deal with. At the time, IBM was looking to focus on software and services and shift away from the hardware business, which was bringing in comparatively lower profits.

Suggestions of political leverage playing a greater than average role in IBM’s PC business sale began as far back as early 2005, with Wharton suggesting that the $1.75bn deal was seen “as an alliance” by the IBM and pointed out that “government relationships are key in China.” The Chinese government still holds a stake in Lenovo, thanks to an early investment by the state-owned Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Lenovo has subsequently gone on to become the second-largest PC supplier in the world, though the company is yet to achieve its top place goal from the heyday of the acquisition. “We won’t be satisfied with the number three position” new chairman Yang Yuanqing said at the time. ”We will formally challenge the other two major competitors in the global PC market.”

[via Slashdot]

Sources cited by DigiTimes claiming that both Acer and Lenovo will be launching Wintel tablets in Q3 2012. The tablets are going to use Windows 8, and the Intel Clover Trail platform claim the supply chain sources. The sources claim that while the Intel Medfield processor will be coming in the first half of 2012, PC makers are looking more to Clover Trial thanks to performance and power savings.

In devices like tablets power sipping is important since battery life is one of the most important things to many users. Business users are expected to flock to the Wintel tablets, though if that expectation turns into a reality remains to be seen. Apple is expected to keep about 60% of the tablet market in 2012.

[via DigiTimes]

Hardware

This machine is nowhere near as light as the MacBook Air, and is not nearly as unique looking as the Alienware M17x (or the smaller 15), but you’re not in this for Apple or for light-up keys and gaming prowess, are you? You want a Lenovo laptop, and because you’ve been more than satisfied with the U260 IdeaPad you purchased at the start of 2011, you assume that this new much more powerful device will bump you up in every way. What you might want to consider though, in that case, is that the casing on this device isn’t the same super soft rubbery-like plastic you got with the U260 series, instead its a cold, smooth, silvery aluminum that’ll stick to your tongue if you’ve just gotten it in from the UPS truck – that’s a true story right there – believe it!

You will notice though that the same styling is essentially here, what with the slightly extended top and bottom around the sides toting a couple of USB 2.0 ports, one 3.0 port, DVD drive, HDMI, headphone jack, OneKey Recovery button, ethernet port, and power port. In this way, the whole notebook looks like a real paper and pages notebook, if you’ve never seen a modern Lenovo laptop before, and the feel of holding said computer is ever-so-slightly unique. As for the rest of the specifications, have a look at this readout and know the truth:

The full metal jacket on the outside and the in is a welcome change from the plastic interiors of past Lenovo notebooks, feeling much more like a high-end notebook than ever before. The “Intelligent” glass touchpad is both responsive and easy to use, and the keyboard is spaced in a way that allows typing at high speeds, especially if you’re used to using either an Apple notebook or another Lenovo. Like all keyboards both attached and detached from their computers, I suggest heading to your local Best Buy (or other store that might have this device out for demo use) to see how the unit feels as your fingers fly across it with the greatest of ease.

Software

You’re using Windows 7 Home Premium here out of the box, but with the Intel Core i5 chipset sitting on the inside of this beast, you’ll be fine running whatever system you like as well as whatever set of games you like, no troubles. Of course this isn’t the absolute top of the line machine when it comes to godly gaming (again, that’s the Alienware machine seen above), but it’ll have no qualms with running each of the big-name games announced throughout this holiday season we’re in here at the end of 2011. There’s a row of shortcut buttons that work with Windows 7 to do things like turn your microphone off and on and grab instant access to display options, each of these working just as well as the rest of the hardware, without a hitch.

Have a peek at this Geekbench benchmark and note how it racks up against the rest of the laptops we’ve reviewed recently – for example the Acer Timeline X AS5830TG-640 which has a Core i5 processor, a 15.6-inch display, and a $799.99 price tag. There’s also the Toshiba Satellite P745-S4250 14-inch display having Core i5 toting notebook for $779.99, complete with a big ‘ol TOSHIBA brand across the back. Don’t forget the 13-inch MacBook Air with a Core i5 processor and the thinnest profile on the market for a cool $999. And if you’re in the market for one Lenovo or the other, there’s also the IdeaPad Z370, a Core i5 processor toting 13.3-inch notebook for $622. Again remember the price on the 14-inch display toting Intel Core i5 chip equipped IdeaPad we’re looking at right this second runs in at $1,299.00 USD. Have a look at the Geekbench results from this big shooter:

Usability

After a full charge and some streaming video playing a bit before some everyday average gaming, this computer lasted somewhere around 4 hours without needing a boost, just like Lenovo quotes in their promotional material for this device. While this would seem a bit disappointing to those of you out there in super battery land on your MacBooks, it should be noted that the time is far expanded should you choose to do normal “student” activities such as word processing and web browsing – more than enough to get you through a class or two.

Because the build, look, and feel of this and a wide variety of notebook computers on the market right this moment largely run right alongside one another, it’ll really come down to your preference in details such as key shape, materials in the case, and weight in this unit. While you won’t find just one whole heck of a lot of difference between this and the rest of the so-called “ultraportable” classification of computers on the market today, I will let you know that this isn’t the least likely notebook I’d think about bringing with me to a coffee shop, classroom, or a press event where I’d have to rely on it to move quickly and act no less than perfectly responsibly.

Wrap-Up

For those of you with a specific use-case in mind, be sure to comment below and I’ll let you know if I think this computer is the one for you or not. For me, it’s simply not the perfect combination of thin, light, and powerful. While it does have the awesome power of the Intel Core i5 chipset, it’s not going to beat an Alienware notebook at home for gaming for a rather comparable price. For heading out of the house to publish some stories or work with video, I can’t imagine replacing me MacBook Pro with this – even though the 15-inch Pro I’m working with weighs more and has more bulk in it in the end.

If you’re looking to upgrade from another Lenovo notebook, this is your winner. Like I said earlier in this review, if you’re coming off of one of Lenovo’s rubbery-topped models like the U260, you might find yourself wishing you still had that grip on the outside – but inside you’ll be glad you’ve now got the class that comes with metal. This computer is by no means less than classy when it comes to the whole package, exterior aesthetics and all, and with results in benchmarks that top the whole first half of 2011′s collection of notebooks made by all manner of manufacturers, this notebook certainly isn’t a bad buy. For the $1k+ cash I’d drop on this machine though, I’d rather just have another Apple.

You’ll have options of 3 cell, 31.2 Whr or 6 cell, 62.4 Whr batteries, the latter providing you with the most magical massive set of hours without a plug-in. You’ll have the ability to load in as much as 8GB of RAM, a 500GB or 320GB harddrive, and the massive range of ports should keep you connected no matter what you’ve got in mind. You get an ethernet port, 3 USB 2.0 ports – one of them powered, a flash card reader, HDMI port, VGA port, and of course a port that connects to your everloving power cord as well. There’s also a VGA webcam with “low light sensitivity” so you can chat in the dusk.

There are several standard models, one of them with an Intel Core i3-2367M processor, the other two with AMD E-300 or AMD E-450 processor options. Education discounts non-withstanding, you’ll be able to pick up one of these little monsters for the low low price of $469 directly from Lenovo. Look like the option for you for your next school season? Perhaps a holiday present for the 2 semester superstar in your life? Your biggest choice here may well be between the black and the red cover, when it comes down to picking one up for your next season’s accessory matching, so keep that in mind!

Qualcomm is believed to have picked Samsung and Sony, with the Korean company’s strengths in component manufacturing – including displays, memory and other elements – singling it out for attention, along with the fact that it already has a solid presence in the tablet market. Texas Instruments selected Toshiba as well as also opting for Samsung.

Finally, NVIDIA is said to have gone for Lenovo and Acer, with Lenovo selected as major partner for its heft in the Chinese market. Conspicuous by its absence is ASUS, despite the fact that the company is already believed to be working on Windows 8 tablets – albeit likely using x86 processors, not ARM-based chipsets – for release in the second half of 2012.

Exactly how soon we can expect to see ARM-based products from any of these companies remains to be seen, however. According to previous leaks, Windows 8 on ARM tablets aren’t likely to go on sale until mid-2013, a delay analysts are already suggesting will leave Microsoft significantly disadvantaged up against the iPad and Android-based slates.

Chen revealed that Lenovo already has a clear release schedule for the device and that it’s set for the second half of 2012. This revelation follows reports that Microsoft is seeking to launch Chinese Windows Phones in early 2012 through a partnership with Chinese retailer Suning, which operates more than 700 stores throughout China.

The Lenovo Windows Phone device revealed in the leaked image resembled the company’s LePhone S2 Android smartphone but was shown running the latest Windows Phone 7.5 Mango platform. It could be an early prototype of what the company has planned and a lot could change in the several months ahead of the scheduled release. Lenovo has yet to reveal any additional details on intended specs.

[via WinRumors]

Lenovo’s cloud service ambitions extend beyond just serving the LeTV, however. The company expects to give 200GB of remote storage to all its users, used to automatically synchronize data from multiple gadgets – including PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets and others. The service will also harmonize personal information and social networking credentials, the company says.

The cloud system will help support tablets and smartphones such as Lenovo’s recently announced LePad S2005, S2007 and S2010 range, revealed in China earlier this week. The company has not yet detailed exactly where the Lenovo LeTV will go on sale.

If it runs Google TV, LeTV would be a shot in the arm for the less-than-successful smart TV platform from the search giant. Initial response to the first generation of the OS was mediocre, and it’s only with the reveal of v2.0 back in October that any real confidence in the platform has been seen. Samsung and LG are both believed to be working on Google TV-based sets for launch in early 2012, with existing Sony TVs already receiving an update.

Though the new quad-core tablets should be much more powerful than their dual-core predecessors, the new generation may not fare much better against Apple’s upcoming iPad 3, sources say, as they potentially wouldn’t be “fundamentally different than their predecessors and would be trading mostly on their speed”. The sources also speculate that “since non-Apple players’ machines have no advantage to compete against Amazon or Apple’s tablet PC devices, non-Apple players will together account for only 10-15% of the total tablet PC market.” Ouch, the iPad is indeed still king.

The sources also noted that even though these players’ performance in the dual-core tablet PC competition were not quite as good as they’d want it to be, they’ll continue to advance and launch new quad-core devices to defend their brands, especially since they have the advantage of sheer numbers (Apple makes what, only one single tablet model?) and a mobile tablet operating system that keeps on getting better and better with every new revision (Ice Cream Sandwich just on the horizon).

[via Digitimes]

In fact, so the notebook players reckon, it won’t be until 2015 until Windows on ARM hardware presents a significant, market-share grabbing challenge to Intel and AMD based hardware. Software support and notebook vendor reluctance are cited as the two main problems: apps written for Windows 8 on regular x86 processors will need to be reworked to run on ARM chipsets.

Nonetheless, producers of ARM chipsets – like NVIDIA and Qualcomm – are believed to be “aggressively cooperating” with firms like Lenovo and ASUS on potential implementations, with both notebooks and tablets on the agenda. The benefit of the ARM chips will be power frugality without sacrificing multimedia power, allowing Windows 8 slates to take on the iPad and Android tablets with lengthy runtimes.

However, Intel isn’t expected to concede the processor market quietly, and will be pushing out Ivy Bridge in early 2012 and then Haswell in 2013. Both platforms are expected to dramatically cut power consumption, making them ideal for ultramobility implementations like tablets and ultrabooks.

Chinese buyers will get an 8-megapixel main camera and 1.3-megapixel front camera on the S2007 and S2010, along with integrated 3G with support for China Telecom’s EV-DO plus China Unicom’s WCDMA. The 3,780 mAh battery in the 360g and 9.7mm thick S2007 is good for up to eight hours of WiFi use, Lenovo reckons, while the 9.9mm thick and 670g S2010 has a 7,670 mAh pack that can run for up to eleven hours.

As for the LePad S2005 – which will launch as the IdeaTab outside of China – that has a 5-inch 800 x 480 LTPS display with 178-degree viewing angles, and runs Android 2.3.5 on a 1.2GHz Qualcomm dual-core paired with 1GB of RAM and an HDMI port. There’s also a 5-megapixel main camera – with 1080p HD video recording support – and a 1.3-megapixel front camera. Connectivity includes microUSB and HSPA+, squeezed into a 9.95mm thick, 198g chassis.

Pricing for the three slates is yet to be confirmed, though we must admit that we’re not particularly feeling the WVGA display on the S2005. Considering Samsung manages to outfit its 5.3-inch Galaxy Note with a 1280 x 800 display, Lenovo’s refusal to look even to qHD seems short-sighted.