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A detachable screen allows users to swap between notebook mode and a 3G multitouch slate tablet.
Lenovo claims it has released the industry’s first hybrid PC for consumers, the IdeaPad, featuring a detachable screen.
Its design is engineered to provide consumers with two PCs in one device – each with its own processor and operating system – that work together and independently as either a clamshell laptop or a multitouch slate tablet.
The IdeaPad U1’s fashionable scarlet red exterior has a footprint just smaller than a piece of notebook paper and is paired with a thin and light design. With its detach-and-converge design, users can easily remove the screen to switch from clamshell mode into a multitouch slate tablet. When the IdeaPad U1 is in its traditional clamshell form, the system has an 11.6-inch HD LED screen and runs Windows 7.
Both devices can synchronise 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.
Lenovo’s hybrid notebook also features a customised “Me” centric tablet interface for landscape and portrait viewing. Users can switch between a six-section display and a four section display. U1’s six-section screen display is designed to enhance the mobile internet experience by letting users easily multitouch access multiple Web-based applications at once such as email, calendars, RSS readers and social networking Web sites. The four-section screen display option is perfect as a media center on the PC such as photos, music, videos and to view/edit documents.
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.
