Three new Lenovo rumors and newsbits: a quad-core tablet on the way, a Windows laptop with an Android mode, and an $800 Ultrabook next May.
Lenovo news and rumors are spilling today. A private presentation is available online which details Lenovo’s plans in the United States for the next few months including a new Ultrabook laptop and a hybrid laptop which has an “Instant Media Mode” that doubles battery life. Finally, another rumor points to the introduction of a quad-core Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) tablet in December.
X1 Hybrid: The Lenovo presentation says that this Windows business laptop is coming in November and is “2 notebooks in 1.” It can switch from Windows 7 to “Instant Media Mode,” which doubles the battery life. Funny thing is, this Media Mode looks suspiciously like Lenovo’s Android media widget, leading us to wonder if it’s not dual-booting a modified version of Android. Lenovo has previously tried to accomplish this concept on the U1 without using Android, but it didn’t take off.
$800 Ultrabook coming in May: The presentation also says that Lenovo will begin shipping its commercial Ultrabooks in May or June 2012–whenever the Intel Chief River/Ivy Bridge platform arrives. These Ultrabooks will “meet or beat” Ultrabook specs and the 14-inch version will cost $800 and up.
Quad-core Tegra 3 tablet: Engadget has heard “from a little birdie” that Lenovo will ship a 10.1-inch tablet with some impressive specs this year. According to the anonymous source, it will run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and be powered by a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a rear camera, a fingerprint scanner that doubles as a joystick, and a “Special Fusion-Skin Body” will also be included. From the pictures, it looks like a real Lenovo tablet to us, though the images are a bit too perfectly zoomed in and unrevealing. It’s almost as if Lenovo leaked this themselves. Hmm…
