Yet another major electronics manufacturer may throw its hat into the tablet ring this summer according to a recent report. Chinese PC manufacturing giant Lenovo has plans to debut its Android 3.0-powered ThinkPad Tablet come June, according to a leaked Powerpoint presentation obtained by tech reporter Joanna Stern. As the document says, the device will be powered by Honeycomb, the tablet-optimized version of Android. It will run on the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, a chip which has virtually reached mobile-industry standard status after being featured on myriad phones and tablets debuted in 2011.
Other touted specs remain similar to the already-existing pack: Micro USB, HDMI, SD card and USB 2.0 ports are all included. 16, 32 and 64-GB versions will be offered, as well as the eventual release of 3G and 4G-enabled versions. The tablet does deviate from its brethren somewhat, but you’ll have to spend a little more to see the differences. Optional choices include a stylus pen for “sketching and note-taking,” as well as a docking bay with keyboard attachment, which essentially turns the tablet into a laptop. Think HTC Flyer meets the Motorola Atrix.
Since Lenovo’s tablet is marketed in the Powerpoint pictures as the tablet “for on-the-go business professionals…and the IT Managers that support them,” we may be seeing a rival to Research in Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, a device also aimed at the enterprise market. Originally a laptop designed and manufactured by IBM, the ThinkPad brand was purchased by Lenovo in 2005.
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