Lenovo Android Notebook Revealed in Leaked User Manual

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Lenovo has confirmed it's developing an Android notebook.

On Thursday Lenovo was forced to acknowledge that it's working on an Android hybrid notebook after the manual (pdf) was discovered on the company's website. A representative said Lenovo had originally planned to officially announce the IdeaPad A10 this week, but the leak spoiled the surprise. Currently, pricing and actual availability are unknown.

The specs reportedly include a notebook form factor with a rotating 10.1 inch touch screen (1366 x 768) that can open up to 300 degrees, allowing the device to become a makeshift all-in-one device with the screen up front and the keyboard laying face-down in the back. This keyboard also has buttons dedicated to familiar Android functions such as "Home," "Back," "Multitask," "Settings" and a few others.

The unannounced Android notebook will also supposedly feature a quad-core Rockchip RK3188 Cortex-A9 SoC, 1 GB or 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot for up to 64 GB of extra storage. Connectivity will consist of a USB port and combo audio jack on the left side, and another USB port, microUSB port, and microHDMI port on the right.

The manual also reveals that the Android notebook will have a SIM card slot, an integrated webcam, a built-in touch pad, a built-in microphone located on the right side, and what appears to be two speakers mounted on the bottom. The home screen looks exactly as one would expect from an Android tablet, displaying the status bar and Google Search bar along the top. Another toolbar resides along the bottom with the Apps Launcher button sitting on the far left.

Over the summer there was talk that a wave of Android-based notebooks and desktops would arrive during the last quarter of 2013, as many OEMs like Dell and HP are now taking a multi-OS approach due to a declining demand for Windows-based PCs. The Slate 21 is one of HP's current Android offerings, an AIO PC with Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean" and a Nvidia Tegra 4 chip. There's also the Acer DA220HQL, a 21 inch AIO PC with a 1 GHz dual-core SoC and Android 4.0.

A Lenovo rep said that the company will announce the launch dates and pricing information for the Android-based IdeaPad A10 notebook at a later date.

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Kevin Parrish
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • teh_chem
    I don't want an android notebook at the moment, but I think this sort of thing is necessary to really push android to be a better platform (note: I'm not bashing android; i use android phones and tablets, and I like google's services).

    With an android notebook, will there finally be an offline-mode for google drive/documents? And with chromebooks already established, is there really a market for android notebooks in the first place?
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    11700119 said:
    I don't want an android notebook at the moment, but I think this sort of thing is necessary to really push android to be a better platform (note: I'm not bashing android; i use android phones and tablets, and I like google's services).

    With an android notebook, will there finally be an offline-mode for google drive/documents? And with chromebooks already established, is there really a market for android notebooks in the first place?

    My thought on this issues is... Once you add a few offline options to Android and add a few relatively minor desktop/laptop optimizations, why on Earth would you want a Chromebook ahead of the same hardware using the latest Android? Both are very resource light, both are free, but one of them has a *massive* backlog of applications available for it.

    You say Chromebooks are already established... Really? People constantly crack at what a joke Windows RT is, but, in a fraction of the time, Windows RT - which IS widely considered a joke - has established multiple times the marketshare of the Chromebook platform. My question is, why continue to support this abortion of an OS that is Chromebook rather than just tailor an Android release to make it work on a laptop style format? Its not like it would even take all that much tinkering, and it would bring *so* much more to the table than Chromebook has ever offered. Chromebook has to be the most limited OS I've ever used, and that includes Windows RT.

    Current Chromebook hardware plus an optimized Android operating system would be quite competitive with lower end laptops for functionality and probably cost less. Current Chromebooks? They're light and fast, but *boy* do you ever take a functionality hit to use one of these things. If you want to do it, and it's not e-mail, web browsing, google services, and e-mail, odds are you can't do it on a Chromebook. Conversely, if you want to do it whatever it is, Android probably has five different apps for you that will make it happen. Why the heck stick with Chromebook when Adroid is a hop, skip, and a jump away from being a solid laptop/notebook OS?

    PS - An Android notebook is a notable step in the right direction in my eyes. Scrap Chromebook, go Android.
    Reply
  • somebodyspecial
    "You say Chromebooks are already established... Really? People constantly crack at what a joke Windows RT is, but, in a fraction of the time, Windows RT - which IS widely considered a joke - has established multiple times the marketshare of the Chromebook platform."

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/google-chromebook-under-300-defies-pc-market-with-growth.html
    Chromebooks are grabbing 20-25% of the low-end notebook market despite lagging pc sales. Please provide data saying chromebooks are being outsold by Windows RT when MS is the only person making them. Dell was the last to TOTALLY DROP windows RT a few weeks ago. Nobody is planning anything for RT. It has NO market share. Microsoft took a 900mil loss for a reason. They can't sell ANY of them. RT is dead. You got your data backwards. ChromeOS is destroying RT, not the other way around.

    Just google "Amazon chromebook best selling laptop" (without quotes), and shocker, you'll find it's been a chromebook for the last 9 months...ROFL.

    I'm not saying anything good or bad about it here, just that your data is backwards. Nobody has RT flying off the shelves. Rather RT machines are ROTTING on the shelves and microsoft is taking write-downs to the tune of 900mil. It will be interesting to see how much they write-down for the new model. At least it has a T4 with more power now, but it won't sell RT either.
    Reply
  • teh_chem
    11700398 said:
    My thought on this issues is... Once you add a few offline options to Android and add a few relatively minor desktop/laptop optimizations, why on Earth would you want a Chromebook ahead of the same hardware using the latest Android? Both are very resource light, both are free, but one of them has a *massive* backlog of applications available for it.

    You say Chromebooks are already established... Really? People constantly crack at what a joke Windows RT is, but, in a fraction of the time, Windows RT - which IS widely considered a joke - has established multiple times the marketshare of the Chromebook platform. My question is, why continue to support this abortion of an OS that is Chromebook rather than just tailor an Android release to make it work on a laptop style format? Its not like it would even take all that much tinkering, and it would bring *so* much more to the table than Chromebook has ever offered. Chromebook has to be the most limited OS I've ever used, and that includes Windows RT.

    Current Chromebook hardware plus an optimized Android operating system would be quite competitive with lower end laptops for functionality and probably cost less. Current Chromebooks? They're light and fast, but *boy* do you ever take a functionality hit to use one of these things. If you want to do it, and it's not e-mail, web browsing, google services, and e-mail, odds are you can't do it on a Chromebook. Conversely, if you want to do it whatever it is, Android probably has five different apps for you that will make it happen. Why the heck stick with Chromebook when Adroid is a hop, skip, and a jump away from being a solid laptop/notebook OS?

    PS - An Android notebook is a notable step in the right direction in my eyes. Scrap Chromebook, go Android.
    Chromebooks actually are pretty established. Lots of people buy and use them. One thing I think you're wrong on is the comparison between Chromebook and windows RT in a general sense. Windows RT is inherently tablet-based whereas chromebooks are laptop-based. Right away, they target different markets all together. Taking that aside, where chromebook can deliver someone a laptop for the $250-and-below pricepoint, Windows RT tablets can't touch that (tablet + keyboard) until around $350.
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    11700623 said:
    "You say Chromebooks are already established... Really? People constantly crack at what a joke Windows RT is, but, in a fraction of the time, Windows RT - which IS widely considered a joke - has established multiple times the marketshare of the Chromebook platform."

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/google-chromebook-under-300-defies-pc-market-with-growth.html
    Chromebooks are grabbing 20-25% of the low-end notebook market despite lagging pc sales. Please provide data saying chromebooks are being outsold by Windows RT when MS is the only person making them. Dell was the last to TOTALLY DROP windows RT a few weeks ago. Nobody is planning anything for RT. It has NO market share. Microsoft took a 900mil loss for a reason. They can't sell ANY of them. RT is dead. You got your data backwards. ChromeOS is destroying RT, not the other way around.

    Just google "Amazon chromebook best selling laptop" (without quotes), and shocker, you'll find it's been a chromebook for the last 9 months...ROFL.

    I'm not saying anything good or bad about it here, just that your data is backwards. Nobody has RT flying off the shelves. Rather RT machines are ROTTING on the shelves and microsoft is taking write-downs to the tune of 900mil. It will be interesting to see how much they write-down for the new model. At least it has a T4 with more power now, but it won't sell RT either.

    Actually...

    http://www.geek.com/news/chromebook-sales-are-terrible-even-compared-to-windows-rt-1552333/

    "How slow have sales been? After two years on the market, Chromebooks still don’t represent a big enough percentage of the computer market to warrant a spot on NetMarketShare’s global stats report....

    According to early data shared with ZDNet’s Ed Bott, Chrome OS devices represent a paltry 0.023% of the global browsing population. For comparison’s sake, that’s around one fifth of Windows RT’s slice of the pie, which currently sits at 0.12%.

    The big difference, of course, is that Windows RT devices have only been on sale for a couple of months. Chromebooks first hit the streets in June of 2011. At 0.12%, Windows RT is an abject failure."

    This was April. Who knows... Maybe in the past few months, Chromebook sales have *EXPLODED* and changed this trend - though, after about two years of them being out and evidently selling horribly, I don't see what would cause a very recent explosion.

    Then again, this wasn't sales data, just usage data. Since Chrome is pretty much an online-only platform, in order for it not to appear in the data gathered, someone would have pretty much had to have left it in the box. Maybe people are buying up massive numbers of them and just keeping them in the boxes?

    You cited me a source giving percentages for a fraction of a segment of a subcategory of the total PC inventory. You then go to and make a claim based on an article that doesn't even mention Windows RT, and you say "ChromeOS is destroying RT, not the other way around." You *sure* about that? Because again, in April, after WIndows RT had been on sale for a few months and Chromebooks had been on the market for about 2 years, that RT composed about 5x as much of the global browsing population.
    Reply
  • Blatantruth
    You left out the date that article was written:
    April 17th 2013
    This is 2013 and statistics and markets change much faster than you seem to be aware.
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    11702792 said:
    You left out the date that article was written:
    April 17th 2013
    This is 2013 and statistics and markets change much faster than you seem to be aware.

    I left it out... Other than the part where I said I said "This was April."

    Ok, I'll bite. Chromebooks came out in July 2011, if I'm not mistaken. The Surface RT/Windows RT came out in, what, October 2012? Or perhaps September - can't recall. By the time of April this year - 7 months out for Windows RT, 22 months for Chromebook - there were five times as many devices using RT on the web as there were Chromebooks, with Chromebooks being an online-only device.

    What I'm wondering is... Are you perhaps suggesting that Chromebook sales had an unprecedented leap from April to September which it somehow didn't manage for the first 22 months it was on the market?

    The thing about the article he quoted was, it's a bit of wordplay to make it sound like Chromebooks are doing better than they are. His article says:

    "Chromebooks have in just the past eight months snagged 20 percent to 25 percent of the U.S. market for laptops that cost less than $300, according to NPD Group Inc."

    Laptops that cost less than $300 are a small portion of all laptops that are sold, which is only a portion of all x86 computing devices that are sold, and this is only in the US which makes it a smaller portion still. They article shows that Chromebooks are growing in sales, but in a tiny part of a massive industry - though, it is interesting to note that their sales are growing in the ultra-cheap sub-category.

    That's a bit like someone posting an article saying "Surface RT has went on to dominate to the market of Windows-only tablets running a non-x86 operating system in the US only." It's an accomplishment, of sorts, but let's not blow it out of proportion.

    Anyways, since you say "markets change much faster than you seem to be aware," I'm guessing you're also not discounting a massive RT sales boom with the significant price drop that has happened since that article, and the announcement of new devices. Markets change... Right?

    Frankly, I don't really care which one is "winning" but the idea that Chromebook is some kind of smashing success is a bit silly. The uptake of the OS is abysmal, and the only area its shown any traction in is a tiny sub-section of the PC world, and even that is still limited. One day they might pick up, but as per my original post, I view it as an abortion of an OS that should be scrapped for Android in general.
    Reply
  • teh_chem
    11701075 said:
    According to early data shared with ZDNet’s Ed Bott, Chrome OS devices represent a paltry 0.023% of the global browsing population. For comparison’s sake, that’s around one fifth of Windows RT’s slice of the pie, which currently sits at 0.12%.
    Chromebooks account for ~5% of the laptop/notebook market as of 1Q2013; I didn't spend the time to find later stats. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/google-chromebook-under-300-defies-pc-market-with-growth.html I would contrast that with Apple's laptop market share, but I couldn't find an updated value. In 2011, Apple captured just a bit more than 6% of the laptop market.

    11701075 said:
    "Chromebooks have in just the past eight months snagged 20 percent to 25 percent of the U.S. market for laptops that cost less than $300, according to NPD Group Inc."

    Laptops that cost less than $300 are a small portion of all laptops that are sold, which is only a portion of all x86 computing devices that are sold, and this is only in the US which makes it a smaller portion still. They article shows that Chromebooks are growing in sales, but in a tiny part of a massive industry - though, it is interesting to note that their sales are growing in the ultra-cheap sub-category.
    True, the sub-$300 market is a small portion of the overall PC market, but a very important trend should be recognized: PC sales have dropped in 2013 vs. previous years. 3rd quarter sales alone, which usually get a boost from back to school sales, is down 8% from last year. And overall, 2013 PC sales are down. All the while, chromebooks are gaining market share.

    Regardless, market share for chromebooks in the total laptop segment is still around 5+%, that's not an insignificant value
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    Not an insignificant value, true, but comparing it to Apple - which has long been a laughingstock of the PC community for usage stats - isn't exactly high praise To put this in perspective, considering this a notable success in PCs is tantamount to considering Windows Phone a notable success in the phone market. How many people around Tom's tend to start off a post concerning phones with "Well, that Windows Phone is really picking up and becoming a player!"? Not many. Why not? Because it has yet to make any real inroads into the industry, remaining a cramped little niche player. Chromebook has yet to show that it can do more than these other laughingstocks of their respective industries.

    Windows phone is considered a failure with similar market share in its respective area. RT is considered an abysmal failure while sporting many times as many connected devices in a fraction of the time. Yet here we are having a serious conversation about Chromebooks being a success. What's wrong with this picture?

    I'll stick with my original comment. Android is one half-decent release from doing everything Chromebook does and doing far, far more on top of it. If over two years in, this is where Chromebook stands, hey, at least it doesn't seem to have cost Google much. After recently fiddling with a Chromebook, I've been inspired to buy another Android tablet and save some money.
    Reply
  • teh_chem
    11705047 said:
    Not an insignificant value, true, but comparing it to Apple - which has long been a laughingstock of the PC community for usage stats - isn't exactly high praise To put this in perspective, considering this a notable success in PCs is tantamount to considering Windows Phone a notable success in the phone market. How many people around Tom's tend to start off a post concerning phones with "Well, that Windows Phone is really picking up and becoming a player!"? Not many. Why not? Because it has yet to make any real inroads into the industry, remaining a cramped little niche player. Chromebook has yet to show that it can do more than these other laughingstocks of their respective industries.

    Windows phone is considered a failure with similar market share in its respective area. RT is considered an abysmal failure while sporting many times as many connected devices in a fraction of the time. Yet here we are having a serious conversation about Chromebooks being a success. What's wrong with this picture?

    I'll stick with my original comment. Android is one half-decent release from doing everything Chromebook does and doing far, far more on top of it. If over two years in, this is where Chromebook stands, hey, at least it doesn't seem to have cost Google much. After recently fiddling with a Chromebook, I've been inspired to buy another Android tablet and save some money.
    Windows phone gets its bad sales reputation from the US uptake of it. It's fairly significant in international markets, around 10-15% of the overall smartphone market (I'm generalizing, I didn't look up specific numbers). Then again, it's also like getting the award for being the tallest midget, lol.

    Don't get me wrong--I actually agree with your message; I'd also rather have an android 'laptop' over a chromebook, mainly because I already use android for my phones and tablets. But if these do come to market, they'll have to compete not only with the android tablets, tablet convertibles (tablet + keyboard), and also hope to get better android OS support from Google--and doing so would cannibalize Google's own chromebook market, which I don't think is likely to happen (for the moment). I think that will be the only way these might gain traction. All the while, for however low the overall laptop numbers are for chromebooks, they're still already established. One thing going for them vs. Android is a (mostly) unified hardware platform; there are far fewer chromebook hardware configurations than there are android hardware configurations, which makes it easier to focus on the user experience and deliver a better result. As much as I use android for my devices, I have yet to encounter the same experience using the same app on my phones as I do on my tablets. Adding a third thing to the mix (laptop) will just further complicate things.
    Reply