Lenovo on Tuesday announced a new range of Windows 8 and RT hybrid
computing devices that can function as tablets or laptops.
The devices include the IdeaPad Yoga 11, which is the company's first
hybrid laptop/tablet with an ARM processor and Windows RT. The device has an
11.6-inch screen and a touchscreen that flips to become a tablet. The device
weighs 1.27 kilograms, offers 13 hours of battery life and will become available
in December starting at US$799.
The Yoga 11 is aimed at highly mobile users, said Peter Hortensius,
senior vice president of the product group at Lenovo, in an interview. The
Windows RT OS will not run existing Windows applications, so products with the
OS may attract a new generation of laptop and tablet users, Hortensius said.
The devices may take off just like tablets, which also attracted a new user
base.
The Yoga 11 is a smaller version of the IdeaPad Yoga 13, which was shown
at the Consumer Electronics Show and was one of the first tablet/PC hybrids
shown. The Yoga 13 has a 13.3-inch screen and weighs 1.5 kilograms (3.3
pounds). It will come with Windows 8 and has Intel's Core processors based on
the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture. The Yoga 13 offers a battery life of eight
hours and will become available for $1,099 on Oct. 26.
The IdeaPad Yoga family belongs to a new wave of ultrabooks that also
function as tablets. Other upcoming tablet/ultrabook hybrids include
Hewlett-Packard's Envy X2, which has a screen that turns into a tablet when
it's detached from a keyboard dock.
A lot of attention has gone into designing the Yoga products, Hortensius
said. A hinge prevents a user from taking the screen off to function
independently as a tablet, but that design gives Lenovo more design flexibility
and lets it make the device more of a fully functional laptop, he said.
Lenovo also announced the IdeaTab Lynx tablet, with an 11.6-inch screen,
Windows 8 and a dual-core Intel Atom processor code-named Clover Trail. The
tablet weighs 640 grams and offers 16 hours of battery life with an optional
dock. The device will become available starting at $599, with the optional dock
priced at $149. The Lynx will go on sale starting in December.
The company also announced the ThinkPad Twist, which the company said is
a "twist" on traditional ThinkPad design. This ultrabook, which is
designed for small businesses, turns into a tablet after the screen is turned
around and placed over the keyboard. The convertible laptop weighs 1.58
kilograms and comes with a 12.5-inch screen, similar to the popular ThinkPad
X220. The laptop will come with Windows 8 Pro and an Intel Core processor
code-named Ivy Bridge, and it will become available on Oct. 26 starting at
$849.
Lenovo also announced that the ThinkPad Tablet 2 will start at $649.
That 10.1-inch pure tablet comes with Windows 8 and Intel's low-power Atom
processor. It will deliver between eight and 10 hours of battery life, and a
detachable keyboard will be sold separately. The Tablet 2 will go on sale on
Oct. 26.
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