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Lenovo Shows Android Laptop In Leaked User Manuals

Posted by timothy on from the cross-pollination dept.

itwbennett writes "PC maker Lenovo accidentally posted manuals on its website showing an Android laptop called the IdeaPad A10. Lenovo spokesman Chris Millward said the company had planned on making an official announcement for the device, and that 'the product has not been canceled. It will be going out to the market.' Launch dates and pricing to come, but specs show that it could be a budget product."

20 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Actually, this is kinda nice... by houstonbofh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With all the painful attempts to turn my high end multi-headed large monitor computer into a phone, (Unity, Gnome Shell, Win8) it is nice to see some turnabout!

    1. Re:Actually, this is kinda nice... by raburton · · Score: 2

      Agreed, I quite like the look of this. It's like a decent size tablet, with keyboard and built in hard screen protector (the keyboard). I never fancied a netbook (too small and under-powered for windows) and haven't missed my proper laptop much since it broke, yet I often wish I had a keyboard on my nexus 7, and maybe a bit bigger screen. Yes I know larger tablets and separate keyboards are available, but suddenly just by putting these things together in this nice package Lenovo has made something I really want. If it's true that it's going to be budget priced then it's time shut-up and take my money, as Fry would say.

    2. Re:Actually, this is kinda nice... by jkrise · · Score: 2

      Actually, this is more valuable than a full fledged PC Windows laptop. Because it supports a SIM card; and camera, HDMI out of the box at budget price; it's a wonderful appliance. You can connect a headphone/mic and make and receive calls; you can write software that takes advantage of the availability of these added peripherals as options.

      --
      If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    3. Re:Actually, this is kinda nice... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Since, obviously, the fact that it uses an ARM/runs Android is evidence it's a mobile device, and not a computer.

      Why is that? Because that ARM device running Android does a crap load more than the first PCs I owned.

      If it's Turing complete, it's a computer. If it's got a general instruction set in the CPU, it's a computer. Running Android or being on an ARM processor doesn't magically make it not a computer.

      Modern 'mobile devices' have far more computational power than any PC made 10 years ago -- and they were still called computers.

      I don't understand where this arbitrary distinction of "that's not a computer" comes from. Because it's wrong.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:Actually, this is kinda nice... by schnell · · Score: 2

      Why is that? ... I don't understand where this arbitrary distinction of "that's not a computer" comes from.

      Yes, technically they are all computers. Maybe it would be better to find a new set of terms to describe the difference between a handheld device and a traditional PC.

      But the distinction is important because (generally speaking) people use these types of devices differently, and that has a big impact on user interface, what capabilities are important to the typical user, and what to optimize the user experience for. All the Slashdotters who show up to every dicussion on Windows 8 or OS X bemoaning "they're trying to make Windows into Windows Phone!" or "stop making my Mac like my iPad!" are evidence of the importance of that dichotomy.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
  2. IdeaPad by schlachter · · Score: 2, Funny

    ipad for short?

    --
    My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
  3. The nightmare that keeps MS awake.... by jkrise · · Score: 5, Interesting

    has arrived. Android on PCs and Linux on tablets are both wonderful for innovation; and doomsday for Microsoft.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2013/01/12/the-nightmare-that-keeps-microsoft-awake-android-on-the-desktop/

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    1. Re:The nightmare that keeps MS awake.... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

      Full computer, office suite, surfing with top browser, what else?

      High-end games, of course, but almost all big PC games are first console design, with port to PC. Microsoft was instrumental in this shift, succeeding in co-development via Direct X for PC and X-Box, thinking the console would take over as game/surf/TV machine. cThere are no games tying people to the PC anymore.

      I cry for them as much as I cried for IBM when Microsoft ascendant.

      You're looking at about 2035 before Google slips to something else.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    2. Re:The nightmare that keeps MS awake.... by jkrise · · Score: 2, Interesting

      bringing Android's touch-first interface to a mouse+keyboard interface

      The interface is a minor issue; easily solved by adding a No-Touch app to the default Android OS. The fact that SIM cards, camera etc are built-in and supported by the OS makes so many exciting applications and use-cases possible.

      Say, you have a list of clients in a CRM software whom you need to talk to; and record the conversations back into the CRM itself.With an Android laptop; you can just click on the number; and get options to call it; and write simple apps to store the call as well. On a Windows machine or even a regular Linux laptop; you don't have these options and peripherals installed and supported by default in the kernel and OS level. That is a huge game changer.

      I have seen cameras that work only with XP Service Pack 2; and fail with later versions of the Service Pack or OS.

      --
      If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    3. Re:The nightmare that keeps MS awake.... by spazdor · · Score: 4, Funny

      > You're looking at about 2035 before Google slips to something else.

      That's pretty bold of you.

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    4. Re:The nightmare that keeps MS awake.... by jkrise · · Score: 2

      Funny how MS putting a touchscreen OS on a PC/Laptop was the dumbest thing ever

      Yes it was. The PC/laptop never traditionally supported things like SIM card, telephony software or even camera software out-of-the-box. The reason MS forced touch on PCs is to try and spur development of touch based and Windows-Store style apps for the enterprise. Without these peripherals above; the touch interface is a huge waste.

      With an open source Android OS that supports every thing that the traditional PC does and much more it is more useful for OEMs to build useful products rather than shoving unwanted licenses to unwilling customers.

      --
      If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    5. Re:The nightmare that keeps MS awake.... by pastafazou · · Score: 2

      and write simple apps to store the call as well
      so you need to write apps in order to do what you want? What stopped you from writing simple apps for Windows or Linux all these years?

  4. Android 4.3 broke the ZAGGkeys Flex by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

    If all you want is a keyboard for your Nexus 7, it's a solved problem.

    No it isn't. The Android 4.3 update broke the ZAGGkeys Flex and several other Bluetooth keyboards that worked under Android 4.2, mistakenly recognizing them as "non-alphanumeric keyboards" (that is, gamepads). And it can't be fixed without wiping and rooting the device to rename a keyboard layout file.

  5. Android is worse than Windows by TrollstonButterbeans · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Android is loved as a phone and tablet OS because it is open source and easy to work with.

    As a desktop operating or some sort of mobile computing operating system, aside from the open source angle and the general openness, I don't see Android being any better of an alternative than Windows.

    Android has quite a bit of fragmentation, has malware and exploit issues (I have some sort of pesky nuisance-ware on my Android phone, apparently from installing some free game outside the Google Play ecosystem) -- and if ends up encroaching onto the traditional desktop/laptop space --- then you are back to hardware interoperability/printer drivers/etc.

    So setting aside the open nature and potentially the "cost" (i.e. Microsoft tax) --- I don't see this being an improvement over Windows.

    But I would definitely welcome Microsoft's near-monopoly to start feeling the heat and would be nice to get more utility out Android apps or developing them personally.

    --
    Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
    1. Re:Android is worse than Windows by oodaloop · · Score: 4, Insightful

      has malware and exploit issues (I have some sort of pesky nuisance-ware on my Android phone, apparently from installing some free game outside the Google Play ecosystem)

      That's not really an Android problem, is it? You circumvented the controls by downloading a shady app from an unaccreditied source. Don't blame Android for your own stupidity.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    2. Re:Android is worse than Windows by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't see Android being any better of an alternative than Windows.

      Well, it has the benefit of not being Windows.

      Android has quite a bit of fragmentation

      Buy the Google branded products. That's precisely why I bought a Nexus 7, so I didn't have to worry about vendors taking forever to roll out updates.

      has malware and exploit issues (I have some sort of pesky nuisance-ware on my Android phone, apparently from installing some free game outside the Google Play ecosystem)

      So, you turned off the thing which prevents you from side loading, side loaded something, and have problems with it? You can do the exact same thing in Windows. But it was you who took responsibility for that and did it. Google just provided the option to shoot yourself in the foot.

      and if ends up encroaching onto the traditional desktop/laptop space --- then you are back to hardware interoperability/printer drivers/etc

      Which is hardly unique to Android. But I set up cloud printing for my mother in law in about 10 minutes, and she can happily print from her tablet through to her PC.

      Maybe what we need are better standards for those devices so it's not the user's problem to sort out interoperability.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:Android is worse than Windows by mcgrew · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, it has the benefit of not being Windows.

      Windows has traditionally lagged behind other OSes feature-wise. Linux supported multiple monitors years before Windows did, and my kubuntu box has features my W7 notebook sorely lacks (like not having to reboot the goddamned thing every month).

      Not being Windows is a benefit because Windows is just not a very good OS. It never had to be, thanks to their monopoly. Look how much better telephony got after AT&T was broken up.

      As to "fragmentation" I think a better word is CHOICE. Hate Gnome? Use KDE or other desktop. Fragmentation is a non-issue cooked up by worried MS marketers.

      But I set up cloud printing for my mother in law in about 10 minutes, and she can happily print from her tablet through to her PC.

      Indeed, "interoperability" is yet another lie cooked up by MS marketing. The truth is it's Windows that not only lacks interoperability but designs its lack into its products. Hell, try opening a Word 2007 document in Word 98; MS isn't even interoperable with itself.

      Driver support is a dead issue, Linux hasn't had many driver problems in years, not that I've seen anyway. The only devices that won't work with Linux are those designed to be windows-only (e.g., winmodems).

      I think you responded to a shill, or to someone who's never used anything but Windows.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
  6. Fine, just give us back the ThinkPad by FuzzNugget · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I couldn't give less of a shit what they do with consumer-targeted products that are used entirely or mostly for dicking around. I mean, Android is cute, but some of us actually need our computers to work.

    What I want is for them to reverse the spread of this toxic notion in the ThinkPad lineup. See: crippled, flexing keyboards and buttonless trackpoints/pads that are pretty but feel and work like shit, wide screens that are fine for movies but shit for actually working, removal of status lights that gave useful information at a glance replaced by various indicators scattered among hardware and software that make usability a load of fragmented shit, poor construction materials that make them feel and behave like cheap shit...

    In case it wasn't clear, the point I'm getting at is that the last several generations of ThinkPad have increasingly been ... shit.

    Fix that shit first, please.

  7. Re:The key word by SteveFoerster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Evidently the Starfleet Corps of Engineers designed your BS-o-meter, since it didn't have any circuit breakers. ;-)

    --
    Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
  8. This reaffirms one thing for me.... by Dega704 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For the past few years it has become increasingly apparent that PC makers are longing for the day that they can finally wash their hands of Microsoft. The Linux netbooks, Instant on features like Splashtop OS and WebOS, Android laptops, etc.; They wouldn't be experimenting with all of these if they didn't find the idea of ditching Windows extremely appealing. And why wouldn't they? Not only have they been subject to the so-called "Microsoft Tax" for decades now, but their bottom line is tied directly to Microsoft's successes and failures. Vista and Windows 8, anyone?