In addition to announcing its first Windows 8 tablet, Lenovo revealed on Thursday the ThinkPad X1 Carbon for the high-end Ultrabook market, and the ThinkPad T430u for the small business Ultrabook market. Both are slated to arrive sometime this month, starting at $1,299 and $779 respectively, through business partners and www.lenovo.com.
Lenovo is calling its new ThinkPad X1 Carbon the "world's lightest" 14-inch Ultrabook, packing a 14-inch display within a 13-inch form factor. Forged from carbon fiber, it features a backlit keyboard, a multi-gesture glass surface touchpad, an HD face-tracking camera, dual array microphones and Dolby-tuned audio.
"Business-ready with Intel vPro technology, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is among the first Ultrabooks to offer true corporate-level security and manageability," Lenovo said on Thursday. "For expansion capabilities and to manage unsightly cables, users can dock it via Lenovo’s new USB 3 Dock. Additionally, Lenovo offers a variety of Service and Support packages such as custom imaging, extended warranties and accidental damage protection."
Starting at $1,299, the Ultrabook offers up to 3rd-generation Intel Core i7 processors, up to 6.3 hours of battery life, up to a 256 GB SSD, and up to 8 GB of RAM, depending on your budget. There are also options for a fingertip reader, TPM and BIOS encryption, mobile hotspot network sharing, and various ports including one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, a mini-DisplayPort with audio, and a 4-in-1 SD card reader.
As for the ThinkPad T430u, this Ultrabook "powers the business and personal computing needs" of today's small-to-medium businesses. Starting at $779, it's configurable with a unique combination of Nvidia GeForce graphics and 1 TB of storage. It also features the Lenovo Solution Center for Small Business, which includes Intel Small Business Advantage that provides hardware-based capabilities to improve productivity and enhance security.
"This diagnostic center helps users self manage backup and recovery, passwords, Internet connections, anti-virus software, firewall settings and devices," Lenovo said.
Business owners can configure the Ultrabook with up to a 3rd-generation Intel Core i7 CPU, up to 1 TB of HDD or 128 GB SSD capacities, and up to 8 GB of RAM. It comes with an integrated Intel GPU, but there's the option for adding Nvidia's GeForce GT620 1 GB discrete graphics. The Ultrabook also features a 14-inch HD display, Dolby Home Theater v4, and up to 7.1 hours of battery life.
Lenovo said the new Ultrabook sports robust security features including BIOS Port Lock and a USB Blocker. It also offers superior Web conferencing with a face-tracking 720p HD webcam, dual-array microphones, and keyboard noise suppression. RapidBoot 2.0, Mobile Hotspot capabilities, and a variety of ports round out a nice business package.
In addition to the two Ultrabooks, Lenovo is calling on all app developers to create a specialized catalog well-suited for Windows 8.
"The Lenovo Developer Program, the company’s first worldwide software developer program, will create a specialized catalog of apps that take advantage of unique features of Lenovo’s devices designed for Windows 8," the company announced. "The program takes advantage of the unique Lenovo capabilities across the company’s PC+ devices, from laptops to tablets to smart phones and smart TVs. It also gives developers access to Lenovo tools and technologies, development support and an easy way to deploy and merchandise their apps with revenue opportunities in the Windows Store and other platforms."
Developers can pre-register for the Lenovo Developer Program starting today at www.Lenovo.com/dev.