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Amidst the notebooks, smartbook and netbooks, Lenovo also unleashed a new smartphone dubbed LePhone. Powered by Google’s Android operating system, LePhone packs a lot of modern smartphone features into a sleek design, but will only be available in China.
A cornerstone of any smartphone, the LePhone’s display is a 3.7-inch 800×480 capacitive touchscreen, although unfortunately not OLED like some competitors. At only 12mm thick, the LePhone is even thinner than the iPhone by a few tenths of a millimeter (for those who can notice 0.3mm difference).
There’s no word on storage capacity, but the processor is the same as on the Skylight smartbook and IdeaPad U1 hybrid: Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon. Interestingly, Lenovo fitted the device with two cameras, one facing away from the user and the other looking right at you.
What looks like the only hardware button on the device is on the side, which enables gesture support. An integrated accelerometer can relay commands to your applications, such as Google Maps which allows for you to move around the map by moving your phone.
EDIT
How could I forget the dock? Yes, the LePhone will have an available dock that adds a physical qwerty keyboard, in addition to charging it of course. See a pic in the image gallery below.
LePhone will go on sale in China in the first half of 2010, but what one has to wonder what is preventing Lenovo from dipping their toe in the U.S. market? They now have a partnership with AT&T through the Skylight, so perhaps it is a matter of time.
More hands-on pictures via Engadget
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Why would they want to go through the hassle of putting in necessary cellular chips and getting certifications only to have to deal with notoriously stingy North American marketplace where any phone not carrier subsidized pretty much never sells and advertising expense is the best predictor of sales?
That kid in the middle of the phone is freaking me out…
China only? But a Caucasian child on screen, Las Vegas time and weather (although time is in 24 hour form) and menus in English. I think they may have other plans.
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