lenovo smartbook

Qualcomm says Apple killed smartbooks with iPad

by ThinkPads on September 27, 2010

A few weeks back at Qualcomm’s IQ 2010 event, their CEO remarked that while everyone was waiting for smartbooks to come out (like Lenovo’s Skylight), Apple effectively redefined what a smartbook should be and in the process killed the smartbook market. Huh?

As GigaOm’s Kevin Tofel points out, the iPad embodies pretty much everything that a smartbook wants to be: ultraportable, all-day battery life, instant-on, connectivity everywhere. I’ll add that it’s not a true mobile computing replacement, as the smartbook was intended: the lack of a physical keyboard kills any notion of mass content creation.

Once the iPad launched before so many promised smartbooks, the smartbook sell becomes infinitely more difficult.

Average Consumer: So, what is this smartbook thing?

Techie/Salesman/etc: Well, it lets you access the internet and perform basic computing tasks from just about anywhere, on a device that is super thin & light, has all day battery life, and turns on nearly instantly.

Average Consumer: Ooohhhh, is this a new iPad?

But while the iPad may have eclipsed the smartbook market before it began, the war isn’t over yet. With Google’s Chrome OS coming soon on devices that are yet undisclosed, a whole bevy of Google Android powered slate tablets, and despite rumors of their death we will also see more traditional smartbook devices.

We’ve even got Lenovo’s LePad launching in December, with what seems like a separate “base” unit that has proper PC chips in it to run a regular old OS like Win7 (although the base will come at a later date).

With this huge deluge of new mobile tech hitting the market all in the same couple quarters, including Blackberry-maker RIM’s PlayBook announced today, it’s going to be an interesting time in the mobile space.

Source: [SlashGear] via [GigaOm]

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Report: Lenovo dropping dual core Snapdragon into Skylight, IdeaPad U1 Hybrid smartbooks

by ThinkPads on June 30, 2010

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A new report from DigiTimes says that while Lenovo is adapting their smartbook products to Google’s Android OS, they are also upgrading the hardware to Qualcomm’s latest dual core Snapdragon processor.

Not only will smartbook shoppers get an improved OS at the end of the year, they’ll get a speedier system. Other reports indicate the dual core Snapdragon will also clock higher at 1.5GHz, making this a definite win-win situation.

DigiTimes also mentions that ODM Wistron will be building the smartbooks for Lenovo.

Source: [DigiTimes]

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Breaking: Lenovo delaying IdeaPad U1 hybrid, Skylight smartbook for Android

by ThinkPads on May 28, 2010

News is swirling around the intarweb that Lenovo has chosen to ditch plans to base its innovative IdeaPad U1 hybrid notebook and Skylight smartbook on a custom Linux OS. Instead, they are planning to launch the machines at a later date with Google’s Android operating system under the hood.

Lenovo’s wording below leaves a lot to the unknown, but it kinda sounds like they may skip the Skylight and IdeaPad U1 altogether. While the general design and chassis would likely live on in a future product, the guts would be decidedly obsolete by the time they could transition everything to Android.

After careful consideration of market conditions and user feedback, Lenovo has decided to focus its resources on building a family of next-generation mobile internet devices based upon open technologies such as (but not limited to) the Android kernel, similar to the Lenovo smartphone, which is available for sale in China now.

As a result of Lenovo’s strategic shift towards open standards such as an Android kernel based environment, the Company has shelved its plans to release the initial version of the Skylight smartbook that featured a proprietary Linux-based OS.

Lenovo remains committed to working with our strategic partners to deliver innovative products in the growing mobile internet space, including the aforementioned smartphones and smartbooks, as well as exploring innovative new concepts that continue to “push-the-envelope” like the U1 hybrid PC.

Source: [LaptopMag]

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Smartbooks delayed due to Flash, says ARM

by ThinkPads on May 6, 2010

In an apparent bid to defray concerns that the ARM processors are behind smartbook delays,  an ARM marketing VP says that issues with Flash performance and the iPad’s launch are to blame.

One of my biggest concerns with smartbooks is Flash performance, especially with full screen and HD video that is a mainstay of the internet experience these days. Intel’s Atom and CULV processors can’t handle heavy Flash video as it is, instead relying on dedicated graphics support to offload Flash processing.

ARM claims that Adobe is taking longer than expected to optimize Flash for the ARM platform, which likely includes Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 1GHz processor that powers Lenovo’s Skylight smartbook. Apple may have the saving grace that they refuse to support Flash, but mainstream manufacturers want and need Flash support to provide a proper internet experience.

In early April, Lenovo revealed that their Skylight smartbook would be delayed, likely until July.

Source: [ZDNet]

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Lenovo reveals mobile internet app store, tweaked Android LePhone interface

by ThinkPads on April 19, 2010

Today Lenovo showed off some additions to its software portfolio, with a custom UI for their Android-based smartphone LePhone and an official Lenovo app store for mobile devices like the LePhone and their Linux-based smartbooks.

Lenovo has already affirmed that they are heavily focused on the mobile internet device market, with three products focused on that segment: the Google Android-powered LePhone smartphone, Skylight smartbook and IdeaPad U1 hybrid. The big news here today is the launch of a Lenovo-exclusive “app store.”

Just like the Android Market and iTunes app stores, Lenovo’s store will offer apps that are designed to specifically run well in their customized operating systems. While the app store for Android seems a bit redundant, it could be a real market advantage for their custom Linux-based Skylight OS that will be used on the IdeaPad U1 and Skylight smartbook.

Lenovo also revealed to PC World that the LePhone will definitely be China-only, but may expand to emerging markets if it succeeds and only after then could it move to mature markets like the U.S. and U.K.. This is no surprise and keeps with Lenovo’s staid fast focus on China first, emerging second, screw the mature markets because we can’t add new business there.

Lenovo has worked with over 500 content developers for its new application download store, including more than 200 who have tweaked their products specifically for Lenovo’s flavor of Android, Read said. The new Web site for the download store offers a software kit for developers and currently lists a few hundred applications.

Source: [PCWorld]

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Lenovo Skylight smartbook delayed, IdeaPad U1 hybrid on track

by ThinkPads on April 14, 2010

Several reports over the past few days have confirmed that Lenovo is pushing back the Skylight smartbook launch, but a new report also claims the delay was enacted to make the Skylight more competitive against the iPad.

DigiTimes cites a source as saying “since the device’s control is not able to act as smoothly as the iPad, while it does not feature as many functions, Lenovo has decided to postpone the launch for further development.” The delay moves the April launch timeframe out to July.

I am not the least bit surprised that the Skylight is delayed, but the fact that it was to be “more competitive” with the iPad is questionable. Right off the bat, I really think Lenovo needed the extra time to polish the “Skylight” Linux-based OS regardless of the iPad launch.

Early hands-on by various press showed the software to be less than polished and video playback was clearly in need of improvement. Developing your own operating system, whether based on Linux or not, is no small task and Lenovo needs to get this one right.

What is certainly reasonable is that Lenovo had several reasons to delay the launch, including more development work and the fact that it is nearly impossible to share the spotlight with a bit Apple launch like the iPad.

Now the challenge is for Lenovo to get the Skylight launched before any more “iPad competitors” hit the market. The number 2, and maybe number 3, entrants will get some serious airtime as iPad-killers, but if you’re too late to the party, nobody will notice.

In related news, the IdeaPad U1 hybrid has recently gotten its own product page on Lenovo.com with a nifty “Coming Soon” announcement and a sign-up form to be notified when it is available. It seems a bit early to put up such a page, given Lenovo called for a June availability, but maybe the web team is actually going to try to get this one right.

Sources: [DigiTimes], [CrunchGear]

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Lenovo turns to Spark video decoder for Skylight smartbook

by ThinkPads on April 1, 2010

Lenovo Skylight smartbook Linux Interface

Lenovo has been working to solve the challenge of video support and playback on its custom Skylight smartbook, and looks to have chosen a solution from Sorenson Media.

The Spark video decoder has been used in prior versions of Flash and other Sorenson codecs used in prior versions of Quicktime. Likely a major reason for Lenovo’s choice, the Spark decoder is specifically optimized for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset.

There’s no specific word on what types of video playback will be enabled, but we can only hope HD streaming video will be supported in one form or another. Perhaps Lenovo is waiting for a bit wider support of HTML5 as well?

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Singapore blogger spends some time with Lenovo Skylight smartbook

by ThinkPads on March 22, 2010

Lenovo Skylight smartbook - picture from DK's blog

Singapore blogger and tech correspondent with The Singapore Daily Darry Kang recently spent some time with a shiny new Lenovo Skylight smartbook. He thoughtfully shared his initial impressions of Lenovo’s first smartbook on his blog.

A couple interesting things he notes:

  • 0.67-0.74 inches thick, 1.99 lbs
  • No physical touchpad buttons – press down on left/right side for respective clicks
  • Machine started to lag a bit with 9+ apps running
  • Flash playback still buggy
  • 4GB USB flash drive is your main storage & is as ginormous as it looks
  • Battery is not user replaceable

The Skylight is very sleek and lightweight. 10.1 inch screen, 25.3 x 20.11mm x 1.72-1.89 cm and weighs less than 907 grams. Despite the size, the keyboard and touchpad is not compromised. In fact, the full size keyboard is pretty comfortable to type with.

Check out DK’s full impressions with photos at the link below

Source: [Dee Kay Dot As Gee]

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Lenovo expects smartphone, smartbook devices to dominate

by ThinkPads on March 22, 2010

In a few recent interviews, Lenovo has reaffirmed its own interest in mobile internet-connected devices like smartphones and smartbooks, as well as going as far as to state that they feel the market will surge for these devices.

Lenovo declared its interest in the “mobile internet” device market earlier this year with the announcement of its Skylight smartbook and Google Android-based LePhone smartphone. According to an interview with CEO Yang Yanqing, they expect that within five years, a full 80% of their sales will consist of these types of devices.

In a separate interview with Forbes.com, COO Rory Read discussed Lenovo’s vision that over the next couple years. Not only did he reaffirm the company’s belief in these highly mobile internet devices, but he went as far to say that he sees Lenovo as leading the segment. He sees the next few years being the turning point for the struggling PC industry, with the stiff competition forcing consolidation in the industry and putting emphasis that companies need to be innovating now.

The Rory Read interview is a fairly interesting read, I suggest checking it out if you’re interested in Lenovo’s strategic goals.

Sources: [Local Tech Wire 1, 2 ; Forbes.com]

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David Hill discusses Lenovo Skylight smartbook design

by ThinkPads on January 14, 2010

VP of design David Hill has just published a new blog post discussing the surprisingly fast (initial) design process for the sexy new Skylight smartbook.

Lenovo turned quite a lot of heads at CES this year and their Skylight smartbook was a big part of that. So sleek, so thin and so light – it goes past anything Lenovo had designed in the past. You might be surprised to know that Richard Sapper, the world famous designer who first came up with the ThinkPad design, was contacted for Skylight.

Sapper was clearly interested in breaking the mold with us.  His enthusiasm dimmed, however, when he was informed of the deadline for completing the design concept. The design had to be locked before the Christmas holiday in order to maintain the very aggressive schedule. I think the words Sapper used were “you must be joking, I need time to design such a thing” . The worst part was that it had not been formally decided if Sapper would be retained to create the design.

Read the rest of the insightful post at Design Matters

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