Chinese company Lenovo bought International Business Machines Corp.'s personal computing business six years ago. It has consistently improved its market share and removed the IBM logo from the ThinkPad and IdeaPad notebooks that it inherited from IBM.

While some products from China have been criticized, Lenovo devices are usually the finest in terms of design, innovation, and performance, keeping IBM's tradition with the ThinkPad.

Numbers-wise, according to latest statistics from research firm IDC, Lenovo is already the world's third largest PC vendor, finally outpacing Acer in the second quarter of this year. Lenovo, which had a 12.2% market share for PCs in the second quarter, is poised to soon overtake former number one Dell, which had 12.9% of the pie in the same period.

Aside from looking for markets outside China, Lenovo now has three new tablets in a market that is dominated by Apple Inc.'s iPad.
Lenovo has unveiled the IdeaPad Tablet K1 for consumers, the ThinkPad Tablet for business customers, and the IdeaPad Tablet P1 for home and office use.

The IdeaPad Tablet K1 and ThinkPad Tablets are Lenovo's first mobile internet devices featuring the Android 3.1 platform.

The IdeaPad Tablet K1 is also the first Android-powered tablet certified to deliver Netflix video streaming.

The IdeaPad and ThinkPad tablets feature NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core mobile processors that "offer extreme multitasking, noticeably faster web browsing with built-in Adobe Flash Player, console-quality gaming and low power consumption for improved battery life," according to Lenovo.

"Tablets are extremely personal technology devices. That's why we've created a family of tablets that has something for everyone, including entertainment-friendly features and content for consumers, or business-friendly features to enhance productivity for professionals as well as security and manageability for IT managers," said Liu Jun, senior vice president and president, Mobile Internet Digital Home business group, Lenovo. "So whether it's the IdeaPad for entertainment or the ThinkPad for business, we have listened to our customers and are delivering Android-powered tablets designed to meet their particular needs."

Aside from downloading 250,000 available apps at the Android Market, users can also grab apps at Lenovo's own app store. While malware has been found in the Android Market, Lenovo said the Lenovo App Shop would offer "reliable and safe" apps.

Tablet for Consumers

Additional features of the IdeaPad K1 are:

-- 10.1-inch, IPS-based screen with 1,280 x 800 resolution

-- Mini HDMI connection for up to 1080p HD viewing when connected to an HDTV or monitor

-- Android's Honeycomb 3.1 operating system

-- Adobe Flash Player 10.3 for watching videos

-- 1.63-pound weight

-- Silver exterior

-- Rubberized back

-- 13mm at thickest point

-- 2-megapixel front camera

-- 5-megapixel rear camera

-- Integrated Bluetooth and 802.11 Wi-Fi connectivity

Although the device has the Android interface, Lenovo has added its own optional on-screen control center that offers one-touch access to the Internet, mail, music, video, and ebooks.

The IdeaPad has 40 built-in apps from partners like Netflix, Amazon, Adobe, Electronic Arts, Rovio, Zinio, Dataviz, and others (over $50 in value), including favorites like Need for Speed Shift, Angry Birds, Kindle reading app and Documents to Go.

Users can access an entire network of friends and social sites all in one place, with Lenovo's SocialTouch app, which effectively creates a one-stop social connection.

With the IdeaPad, users can sync, store and share files, music and photos with more integrated cloud storage, and less reliance on their local storage. There's a free 2GB of free cloud-based storage with each Lenovo tablet.
Lenovo will start shipping this July its IdeaPad K1 tablet. Pricing for the IdeaPad K1 tablet starts at US$449 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version (3G pricing has not been set) in the U.S. IT will be available in the U.S. on July 20, and generally available worldwide in the third quarter.

Tablet for Business

Lenovo says the ThinkPad Tablet combines the superior media and entertainment experience of the IdeaPad Tablet K1 with the security, reliability and manageability features ThinkPad is known for, to create the first true business-class tablet.

Data remains safe on the ThinkPad Tablet with layered data security, and the device is easily supported by IT managers thanks to a suite of business partner solutions that include anti-theft software and the ability to disable the tablet if the device is lost or stolen with Computrace, according to Lenvo.

The ThinkPad Tablet has these features:

-- 10.1" WXGA (1280x800) display

-- an IPS display for a 178-degree viewing angle

-- scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass

-- 1.65-lb weight

-- built-in mini-HDMI port for presentations

-- preloaded Documents to Go app by DataViz for editing Microsoft Office documents

-- sync key files and folders with their tablet every time they plug into their Windows 7 PC

-- WiFi connectivity

-- 2GB of free cloud storage

-- Standard size USB port and SD Card Reader

-- Lenovo's unique file copy utility for sharing media files.

The 16GB ThinkPad Tablet is priced at US$479 without the digitizer pen, and at US$509 including the digitizer pen, for Wi-Fi models. The 32GB ThinkPad Tablet (Wi-Fi model) with digitizer pen is $589. There is also an optional keyboard portfolio carrying case available for US$99. At a later date, shortly after launch, ThinkPad Tablets with 3G will become available. ThinkPad Tablet can be ordered in the U.S. starting Aug. 2.

Tablet for Home and Office

Lenovo's 10.1" IdeaPad Tablet P1 with Microsoft Windows 7 features a 1.5GHz Intel processor so users can be more productive with Office documents, or get creative with photos while on the move. The IdeaPad Tablet P1 boasts a multitouch touchscreen display and optional stylus pen for added flexibility, easy access to Web content thanks to full Adobe Flash Player support and HD playback, and Microsoft Security Essentials for an extra layer of security. At just 14.5mm thin and weighing less than 2lbs, the IdeaPad Tablet P1 with Windows 7 offers portability, power and versatility for the office, in the home and on-the-go.

The IdeaPad Tablet P1 will be available in the fourth quarter 2011.

Beating the iPad

Following the release of Apple's iPad, we now have more offerings in the market: BlackBerry maker Research In Motion's PlayBook, Apple nemesis Samsung Electronics Inc.'s Galaxy Tab, Netbook pioneer Asus' Eee Pad, HTC's EVO View 4G, and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s Xoom have tried to be the iPad killer, but these iPad wannabes have barely made a dent in the market. Joining the tablets on shelves this month are top desktop vendor Hewlett Packard's Wi-Fi version of HP TouchPad and Internet protocol-based networking provider Cisco Systems Inc.'s Cisco Cius. Online retailer Amazon will also launch a tablet PC in the third quarter. Electronics giant Sony Corp. has also two tablets lined up.

While the tablet market is a lucrative market, as proven by Apple Inc.'s record sales in the recent quarter, tablets that have been released so far this year have barely made ripples in the market.

Lenovo is the most popular PC vendor in China, and chances are its tablets will dominate the Chinese market. Outside China though, where Lenovo's sales channels have yet to improve, the iPad will continue to take most of tablet sales.

With so many tablet offerings in the market, sooner or later some of these smartphone makers and PC makers trying out the tablet market will end up as losers. Due to the competition, tablet makers will likely cut prices (resulting to lower margins) and try to outdo each other in putting up the best tablet there is (higher costs).

The only winners are the consumers.

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