Lenovo unveils 5.5-inch Intel-powered K900

Lenovo hasn’t been very active in the Android scene, but the company is ready to start anew with Intel by its side. Lenovo has announced the K900, an Intel-powered smartphone with some very interesting specs to behold. For starters, this thing is on the “phablet” side of the spectrum with its 5.5 inch 1080p display. That nice piece of tech is covered by a nice piece of glass, of course, with Gorilla Glass 2 protecting it.

Under the hood will be Intel’s Clover Trail+ chipset, and aside from sounding like a bag of trail mix it’s a dual-core 32nm SoC. Couple that with 2GB of RAM and we’d say Lenovo has our attention. The device comes in at just 6.9mm thin, and also features a stunning 13 megapixel camera with a maximum aperture of f/1.8.

Unfortunately Lenovo won’t be bringing this beast to part in Europe or North America, but those in China and other select markets will be able to get in on the fun once Lenovo ships starting in April. We long for the day Lenovo finally attempts to go global, but it looks like you’ll have to look toward your options for importing it more than anything. Read on for full press details.

Latest Lenovo Smartphone Pushes Design Boundaries
Top-end device packs premium performance into slimmest profile in class

LAS VEGAS – January 9, 2013: Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today announced at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show its latest flagship smartphone, the K900, a premium smartphone with a super-slim profile whose look and feel make it a must-have for those who will see and be seen with their smartphones. A unique blend of design and performance, the K900 sports a 5.5-inch IPS screen, one of the best camera arrays available in class and a super slim 6.9mm profile, all running on an Intel® Atom processor.

“With the K900, our team has broken down the key functions of the smartphone and redesigned them from the ground up,” said Liu Jun, president, Mobile Internet Digital Home, and senior vice president, Lenovo. “Rather than focus on specifications that look good on a datasheet, we’ve zeroed in on what consumers want and proved that for smartphone users, top performance doesn’t require a thick profile. The K900 is a game-changer that looks as good as it performs.”

Design
As smartphones have become ubiquitous, customer demands on “top-of-the-line” devices have increased, with design and usability growing in importance. The K900 resets the bar on these aspects. At 6.9mm, the K900 is the thinnest phone in its class by a wide margin and weighs in at a mere 162g (5.7 ounces), making it a device that unobtrusively slips into a jacket pocket or handbag. Made from a composite of stainless steel alloy and polycarbonate in a Unibody mold, the K900 manages to stay strong and look sharp while maintaining its slim profile.

The material alone is not the only aspect that has allowed Lenovo to achieve a design milestone with the K900. The rear camera array is optimized for size with a new sensor and layout that does not protrude from the case, leaving a clean, smooth rear face that doesn’t snag on clothing. The design team tweaked the PCB and battery layout to reduce the space used by internal components. And the K900 is topped off by a unique “stripe” ID language that reinforces the thin body and integrates the external components.

While the K900 is certainly sleek, it does not ignore the emerging trend toward larger and clearer displays on smartphones. The K900 is one of the first smartphones in the world to combine a 5.5-inch IPS display with 1080p full high-definition resolution performance at 400+ pixels-per-inch, all under the latest, touch-capacitive Gorilla Glass 2. This gives the K900 supreme clarity and crispness along with plenty of space to capture the nuances of high-definition photos and video, as well as for viewing standard-size web pages.

Performance
Amazingly for such a sleek package, the K900 does not skimp on performance. Centered on the forthcoming Intel® Atom processor platform for smartphones, the K900 is very responsive, especially for key functions such as web-browsing and application-loading. Although Intel® has yet to release complete specifications for the new chipset, Lenovo has clearly maximized the opportunity to be the first to market with the new generation platform.

The K900’s camera stands out as one of the smartphone’s most distinguished features. As with other functions on the K900, Lenovo has overhauled the camera completely, and delivered a package that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Megapixels is the first specification that many users recognize for digital cameras, and with 13MP, the K900 ranks at the top of its class in this aspect and combines this with an industry-leading, Sony® Exmor BSI sensor for what would already be considered outstanding performance.

With the K900, though, the Lenovo engineering team has gone even further. Recognizing that customers often need to take clear, flash-less photos in low-light, Lenovo has equipped the K900 with an F1.8 focal length lens, making it the first smartphone to offer such a wide aperture on its camera. Combined with its other specifications, the K900 is now a legitimate stand-in for a digital camera in a smartphone. In addition to these improvements to the rear camera, the front camera has also been widened to an 88? viewing angle, the widest available on a smartphone front camera for convenient self-photos and video calls.

Pricing and Availability1
The K900 smartphone will be available from April in China and in select regional markets soon thereafter. Pricing for the K900 will be announced at a later date.

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About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US30 billion personal technology company – and one of the top two PC makers globally, serving customers in more than 160 countries. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the IBM Personal Computing Division, the Company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, see www.lenovo.com.