By There’s no denying the Lenovo LePhone was one sexy piece of mobile hardware. Unfortunately, it never reached it’s arm far out of Asia, and much of the world has been deprived of Lenovo Android goodness. Until now.
Lenovo has officially announced 2 new Android devices, both of which will eventually be available around the world – they went on sale today in Asia.
The first device is the most straightforward; it’s called the Lenovo LePad, and as you probably guessed, it’s Lenovo’s Android Tablet and iPad competitor. We’ve been expecting this one for awhile and some of its specs include Android 2.2, snapdragon processor, 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 10.1-inch screen, front-facing camera, 3G and Wi-Fi, and Adobe Flash.
Now imagine you could take the LePad and snap it into (and out of) a portable laptop framework that booted Windows 7, allowing you to instantly switch between Windows 7 and Android. What would you have then?
Well, then you would have the Lenovo IdeaPad U1, and this thing is practically the definition of hybrid:
And if you’d rather just have the LePad with a keyboard, don’t fret, because THAT device comes with a dock that accomplishes just that:
The Lenovo LePad will cost about $599 while the IdeaPad U1 will cost $1399…no word yet on the cost of the LePad Dock.
We’ll have video of the LePad up tomorrow so be sure to check into Phandroid for the details!
Here is the full press release:
Best of Both Worlds: Lenovo’s Dual Mode Hybrid System New Two-in-One Mobile
Device Speaks Android and Windows
LePad multi-touch Android slate for mobility and U1 laptop PC base for full Windows 7 experienceCES 2011, Las Vegas – January 5, 2011: Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today announced the IdeaPad U1 hybrid with LePad slate, a unique two-in-one device that combines the mobility of a media rich, high-definition slate featuring access to Android applications and a keyboard base that provides a full Windows 7 computing experience. Offering great performance, both separately and together for a unique Hybrid Switch dual mode capability to switch between two different operating systems, Lenovo delivers to consumers an uncompromised mobile and computing experience.
“Our IdeaPad U1 and LePad truly fits the mobile lifestyle,” said Liu Jun, senior vice president, Idea Product Group, Lenovo. “Use the light-weight slate when you’re mobile, and then simply slide it into the U1 base when you need to create and edit content. Consumers shouldn’t have to adapt their lifestyle to technology, and this product definitely delivers twice the functionality and fun in one device.”
LePad Slate – Light, Long-Lasting and Application Rich
At under two pounds and only half an inch in thickness, the extremely portable LePad, powered by a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon™ processor, keeps users incredibly mobile all day with up to eight hours of battery life. LePad is available in four stylish colors with two different textures: scarlet, white, brown leather textured and black leather textured. The 10.1-inch widescreen and rich, high definition LePad slate runs in landscape and portrait modes. Users can consume content such as video, surf the Internet, access social networks from their fingertips, as well as tap out messages and email. It also has a front camera for taking pictures or video chat.
“We are excited that Lenovo has chosen our Snapdragon processor to power the LePad slate,” said Luis Pineda, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “Lenovo’s innovative 3G connected slate, powered by our Snapdragon platform, enables a high performance, always connected experience for consumers on the go.”
Built upon Android 2.2., Lenovo customized the LePad slate with an optimized Android media experience on LePad’s larger screen size, starting with an attractive four-pane easy to use interface and a distinctive Lenovo-developed push service that delivers email, news and other content in real time, eliminating the need to constantly open a browser and log in. LePad leverages the Android ecosystem Lenovo has already established in China for the LePhone Smartphone. LePad users, in addition to enjoying many preloaded applications, also have access to thousands of custom Android apps from China’s top content partners that are optimized uniquely for its large screen. Lenovo plans for LePad to support Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, looking to provide users a more complete Web browsing experience.
IdeaPad U1 for a Complete Laptop
For users who need the full functionality of a mainstream laptop for doing content creation with Windows-based productivity applications, the LePad can slide into the U1 base. The IdeaPad U1 hybrid laptop with a full keyboard transforms the user interface on LePad into Windows 7. The base features a Windows 7 Home Premium operating system and an Intel CULV processor. With the Hybrid Switch feature, users can seamlessly change operating systems to support a continuous Web browsing experience.
Pricing and Availability
The Lenovo IdeaPad U1 with LePad will be available beginning in China in the first quarter of 2011. The LePad slate can be purchased separately from the U1 base. The LePad slate starts at approximately RMB 3,499 (approximately US $520), and the U1 hybrid laptop starts at approximately RMB 8,888 (approximately US $1,300). For detailed pricing and availability for other markets, please contact your Lenovo representative.
2 snapdragons?screw tegra 2 this is where it’s at!
this is definitely what my next laptop/tablet looks like…..
Pretty awesome idea from these guys. Hopefully the XDA dev will fully support this device…if not then getting the newest Android update will take forever.
First the galaxy tab being rendered useless and not being able to qualify for Honeycomb now this? More fragmentation? This is great but I have a few qualms.How will data sync effectively between both devices, what about viruses?
God Help us ALL
Just a thought but as more and more of these tablet devices becomes available y’all at phandroid should really think about having a tablet page like you do for the phones so we can see all of the tablets that are market available vs rumored. Lately you have so many articles about new tablets coming out its hard to keep track of them all (which is a good thing)! I know that the phone page was really helpful for me in making a decision about which phone was right for me.
SnapDragon dual core isn’t gonna be better than tegra2
I knew the price was gonna be rapish although for what you are getting with U1 it doesn’t seem too bad of a price.
@ bananna that’s an awesome idea, i’m totally with you on that one
Correction…Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 1.3Ghz processor with Android 2.2 OS (when mobile) as per official lenovo website
awesome idea!
Beautiful, both the thing and the GUI.
My biggest question is whether Android is still accessible while it’s in “laptop mode,” as though the tablet becomes an Android equipped monitor.
@Dave Matney,
From what I’ve read, I don’t think so. It seems that when the tablet is docked, it becomes a fully functional Windows 7 OS.
From engadget:
‘Switching from Windows to Android just requires disengaging the latch on the base — the flip to Android is basically instantaneous, while getting back to Windows takes a few seconds.’
It seems that the U1 will be running a custom Android skin called LeOS. I’m guessing Lenovo incorporated features from their Skylight Linux OS into Android. I was hopping that it’d be pure vanilla Android *sigh*.
So Lenovo just released more PR in their Newsroom (and it’s from the future).
http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1301
Interesting to note:
Two Brains are Better than One
Leveraging the benefits of both CPU, the two devices can synchronize to work as one with the ability to share battery power, 3G wireless, data and documents. In this way, the base laptop system can serve as a hub and docking station and the slate tablet as a mobile device. The two PCs have been engineered to work together and independently through Lenovo’s Hybrid Switch technology that enables seamless toggling between the two processors.For instance, users can surf the Web in laptop mode and then continue from the same point without interruption if they detach to tablet mode.
IdeaPad U1 Doubles Entertainment Fun
The IdeaPad U1’s laptop and tablet modes each support more than five hours of 3G Web browsing and 60 hours of 3G standby. In addition, the U1 comes with integrated video camera and two stereo speakers with integrated microphone with echo cancellation make this the ideal PC for users who need flexibility but do not want to compromise features or functionality.
Pricing and Availability
The Lenovo IdeaPad U1 hybrid notebook will be available June 1, 2010 with an estimated retail price of $999.1
I’m not too sure about the 3G capability. Would that mean that carriers will be selling the phone on contract since I only want i wifi and tether it to my Android phone when I’m out. The price there is $999, I hope it’s around there, as it’s more afordable :)
I’m sooooo excited!!! Well…will make a post on AF as well!!!
-Roze-
Pricey