Lenovo Launching Android, Windows 7 Tablets for Consumers, Businesses

Lenovo is plunging into the tablet market with three new devices that run Google Android and Windows 7.

Unlike other tablet manufacturers, which seem dedicated to challenging the Apple iPad with devices aimed primarily at the consumer market, Lenovo seems keen on tailoring its offerings to both the consumer and business spheres.

Lenovo’s tablets include the IdeaPad Tablet P1, which features a 1.5GHz Intel processor powering Windows 7, and the IdeaPad Tablet K1, whose dual-core 1GHz processor from Nvidia supports Google Android 3.1. Both 10.1-inch devices are aimed at consumers, although Lenovo is also positioning the P1 as a business tool. The K1 includes some 40 preloaded apps, including Amazon’s Kindle app and Documents To Go, along with a proprietary social-networking app called SocialTouch.

While the upcoming Windows 8 is expected to be fully optimized for the tablet form factor (and support system-on-a-chip architecture, in particular ARM-based systems), Windows 7 does not have a substantial presence in the U.S. tablet market, despite its support for touch screens. That being said, some business users who need Windows to the exclusion of other systems, and who want a relatively lightweight tablet, could gravitate to such an offering.

Lenovo’s third device is a 10.1-inch ThinkPad tablet, also powered by an Nvidia dual-core 1GHz processor, which runs Google Android 3.1. The ThinkPad offers front and rear cameras (2 megapixels and 5 megapixels, respectively), an optional keyboard dock and 8 hours’ battery life.

In a bid to appeal to consumer audiences, Lenovo claims its Android tablets are the first certified for Netflix, which could possibly sway some cinephiles who use the devices primarily as portable entertainment hubs. The K1 and the ThinkPad can access Android Market and Lenovo’s App Shop, which is billed as an online storefront for applications tested specifically for those tablets.

To read the original eWeek article, click here: Lenovo Tablets Aim at Consumer, Business Markets