Back at CES in January, Lenovo unveiled a new notebook known as the U31 — but was quick to announce that the device wouldn’t see a release in the United States. Now, it seems that those plans might have changed.
A listing that refers to the U31 has been uncovered on the FCC website, as noted in a report by Liliputing. However, there’s a caveat; Qualcomm Atheros, the manufacturers of wireless technologies, actually submitted the documentation to the FCC. This could mean that it’s just one component of the laptop that’s being submitted for inspection, rather than the U31 itself.
However, at this point it’s equally likely that Lenovo is prepping the product for a US release. The company’s focus was perhaps on the well-received LaVie Z at the time of the event, but plans could well have changed since then. Lenovo released the following official specs for the U31.
- Display: 13.3 inch, 1,920 x 1,080 resolution
- Processor: Up to Intel Core i7 Broadwell
- Memory: Up to 8GB RAM
- Storage: Up to 1TB
- OS: Windows 8.1
At three quarters of an inch thick and almost three pounds in weight, the U31 isn’t quite as svelte as the LaVie Z. However, it’s likely that the U31 would be pitched as more of a mid-range solution than the relatively high-end LaVie Z.
Also known as the S31 in some markets, the U31 has a slightly bigger variant, which bumps up the display size to 14 inches and the device’s weight to almost four pounds. At present, it’s not clear whether this product would join the U31 if it does indeed see a release in North America.
Expect to hear official word from Lenovo as to whether or not the US will see the U31 over the course of the next few weeks.
