Lenovo is putting ultrabooks in a new variety of positions with the IdeaPad YOGA, an ultrabook that is so much more.
The ultrabook category just got a lot more interesting, thanks to Lenovo's announcement of the IdeaPad YOGA, a stylish new ultrabook-cum-tablet running Windows 8 and featuring a flipping, folding touch screen. It's not just the first touch-enabled ultrabook we've seen, it's also equipped with Intel's Ivy Bridge processors and running Microsoft's touch-friendly Windows 8 operating system.
The IdeaPad YOGA is first and foremost an ultrabook, with a thin 0.67-inch chassis that weighs in at 3.1 pounds. Its 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) and an estimated 8-hour battery are par for the course among ultrabooks, but the YOGA brings plenty of new features as well, like an Intel Ivy Bridge processor and a whopping 8GB of RAM.
CES 2012The 13.3-inch screen of the IdeaPad YOGA offers ten-point capacitive touch, and Lenovo's unique double-hinge design lets you fold the screen back around the laptop to become a 13-inch tablet. The IdeaPad YOGA will have the yet-to-be released Windows 8 operating system, which includes the touch-friendly Metro interface.
But it's not all new processors and software. Lenovo is also upping the ante in the hands-on department, covering the bottom of the laptop with soft-touch rubber paint for a luxurious texture and secure grip, while bringing back the leather covered palmrest found on the Lenovo IdeaPad U260 ($1,049.99 direct, 3.5 stars) and retaining the scalloped keys and large clickpad found on the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s ($1,495 list, 4 stars).
The convertible ultrabook is designed to switch between four different form-factors with a flip of the screen. It can change from a conventional laptop to a tablet, easel mode with the screen standing at an angle, or tent mode with the YOGA setting upright on the edges of the screen and chassis. Buttons on the sides of the chassis maintain full functionality even when the keyboard isn't in use, and with Lenovo's 360-degree hinges, the screen should stay firmly positioned no matter what your favorite position is.
The Lenovo IdeaPad YOGA convertible ultrabook is coming the second half of 2012 with an estimated starting price of $1,199.
At the "Music Business Crash" that served as the pre-opening for the NARM convention, held in the Century City Hyatt in Los Angeles May 10-12, the speakers helped to dispel one myth commonly held by the digerati press: that the internet has leveled the playing field making record labels obsolete.
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Ingram Content Group Inc. today announced an agreement with Hachette UK, one of the largest and most diversified publishing groups in the United Kingdom, to archive and distribute the publisher’s e-content to partners worldwide through CoreSource®.
One of the most insidious aspects of recent Internet policy-making is that much of it is taking place behind closed doors, with little or no consultation -- think of SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and TPP. But there's another dangerous trend: the rise of "informal" agreements between the copyright industries and Internet service providers.
ISC invites institutions to submit funding proposals for projects to be funded as part of its e-content programme for 2008-2011. Funding of up to £275,000 is available for the digitisation of catalogues and manuscripts related to Islamic Studies.
Sony has shown off a pair of tablets that will launch later this year. The S1 is little more than yet another Honeycomb tablet in a Sony-designed box, with a 9.4-inch widescreen display and a wedge-shaped case.
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is the cheapest 10 inch tablet with Google Android 3.0 and an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. But good luck getting your hands on the $400 tablet, because it’s sold out pretty much everywhere at the moment.
All tablets are e-readers, but all e-readers are not tablets. B&N recently released a software update for its Nook Color, which takes the full color, touch-screen e-reader and gives it some tablet-like features. At $249.95 it is less than half the price of an iPad 2 or Xoom, and it offers some significant benefits for normal, non-geeky readers.
Ultrabooks will enter the tablet price range in 2013 according to Acer.