Lenovo Softening On ThinkPad Slate Possibility?

Back in February, Lenovo was pretty committed to their decision not to produce a ThinkPad-branded slate to take on the iPad, and they had the market research to prove it; turns out, would-be ThinkPad buyers simply love the notebooks' keyboard too much.  Now, though, it seems the company is having second thoughts.  Peter Hortensius, senior vice president of the Think Product Group at Lenovo, apparently told PC World that the enterprise tablet market was beginning to make "sense" and that the company would be watching rivals closely.

"As it makes sense we'll absolutely enter that market.  I think we have a great foundation from which to build for that." Peter Hortensius, senior vice president, Think Product Group, Lenovo

Now, it's a long way from "as it makes sense" to "we'll be making a ThinkPad slate" but we'd certainly like to see Lenovo's take on the form factor.  Hortensius sensibly says that any enterprise-centric tablet would need to deliver lengthy battery life along with strong usability and more input capabilities to create content, something we wouldn't mind seeing in consumer slates too.

[via Tablet PC Review]