Video: Lenovo's Ideapad U8 interface scrolls like butter, looks like candy

Although officially unveiled at Intel's IDF forum last week, the UI of Lenovo's Ideapad U8 MID has remained a bit of a mystery. Oh sure, we saw the teaser video. However, that vid was all flash based animation. Now we've got the real goods thanks to the folks at PCHome.net. That ain't Windows kids, the U8 features a sexy Lenovo-grown UI which has us asking when we can get our hands on it outside of China... and for how much? Unfortunately, you'll notice some serious lag between finger touch and application launch in the video posted after the break. We'll attribute that to what we presume is a prototype device -- certainly it can't be the fault of Intel's highly touted new Atom processor could it?

P.S. Anyone speak the native tongue found in the video? We distinctly heard "SSD," "WiMax," and "SIM card" mentioned, all of which would be new details.

Update: Helpful readers Riceman and rdy0329 provided us with the following snap translations: definitely a prototype, will not include WiMax but will support China's 3G TD-SCDMA standard for voice and data, will ship in 4, 6, and 10GB SSD options.

[Thanks, Engadget Fan]

[ishism @ Apr 8th 2008 3:44AM]

That thing is fugly as hell. I don't know, it reminds me of an atari jaguar controller, with a screen on it.

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 8th 2008 5:04AM]

Fugly or not, all I know is that title makes me want to eat it!

[ReggieXuk @ Apr 8th 2008 5:16AM]

i dunno what the writer is thinking, this thing looks like a 1990s handheld

[Brian Sexton @ Apr 8th 2008 7:01AM]

My first thought was that it looks a bit like the revised Atari Lynx, but after your comment I can see the similarity to the standard Atari Jaguar controller too. As strange and large as they looked, I actually found the Jaguar controllers quite comfortable to hold and the retro-style overlays even seemed kind of neat in a strange I-hope-I-don't-lose-or-bend-these kind of way.

[riggs @ Apr 8th 2008 8:23AM]

thats because theyre talking about the UI being pretty not the actual handheld :)

[Deputy Doffoos @ Apr 8th 2008 12:41PM]

I want my Sega Gamegear back!

[Jeff @ Apr 8th 2008 3:30PM]

i agree... that thing look enormous and ugly, but what's worse is that it looks horribly slow.

the interface is just another one of those "this idea is neat, so let's do it! usability or common-sense be damned!'

I'm disappointed at how many companies just can't seem to even get CLOSE to a functional touch interface. (they can make it relatively pretty, but pretty without usefulness is ...well... useless.)

[rdy0329 @ Apr 8th 2008 3:53AM]

I heard that it has 3G capabilities (based on the video) and that it will come in 512mb of RAM. 4GB 6GB and 10GB of SSD Space. I also heard that some of the info asked by the interviewer is still confidential.

Sorry, I'm not fluent in Chinese but that's what I got.

[Blink @ Apr 8th 2008 3:56AM]

Yes, the lady said it'll support TDS-CDMA, WiMax, 3G. 512MB Ram, 4/6/10G storage. you can connect it with cellphone. And it's a prototype now, interface will be better after adjustment.

[Defferoo @ Apr 8th 2008 3:59AM]

if you have your own sim card, it can support phone functionality. then they talk about about what kinds of connections it has. she says it has 3G technology built in. They talk about TD (?) maybe some type of network in China. computing is primary focus, phone takes secondary. It runs linux... something about it not optimized yet and that it will run better once they do that. 512 MB of RAM and it has a 4/6/10GB SSD drive for storage.

[CB17 @ Apr 8th 2008 4:17AM]

How to make a touchscreen designed to be used with your finger that isn't a direct ripoff of the iPhone.

Nokia, Samsung, LG, Microsoft, are you paying attention?

[Zak @ Apr 8th 2008 12:35PM]

I completely agree with that. It is possible to innovate without ripping off the iPhone, the key word is "innovate". Stop making phones that look exactly like the iPhone and think outside the box for once.

[stone @ Apr 8th 2008 4:31AM]

@riceman: I think "no sound" is NOT due to prototype, but she turned it off for some reason. (e.g. not making noise)

Besides, she said the operation system is Linux

[PiTT @ Apr 8th 2008 4:35AM]

look at the top tool bar....that's windows mobile!

[Alexkass @ Apr 8th 2008 4:42AM]

its gnome linux ;)

[I @ Apr 8th 2008 4:41AM]

That's really just awesome. The UI is not as streamlined as I'd like but I see the potential.

Honestly with this, HP's little guy, the Eee PC and their clones and Intel's Atom stuff et al. the world of mobile computing is at the beginning of a paradigm shift and I, for one, am very excited at the prospects to come.

[howdyPardner @ Apr 8th 2008 4:51AM]

This thing is so beautiful, and they're definitely speaking Mandarin.
這個東西就是好美，而且這些人確定講國語。

[riceman @ Apr 8th 2008 8:24AM]

The lady is saying you can put your SIM card in it and use it as a phone as well. WIMAX is not supported but the China 3G TD-SCDMA is supported. The interface/software is still prototype so there's no sound and response is a bit slow, that will change once the device is finalised. There's 512MB of RAM and uses SSD as storage with 4, 6 and 10GB choices.

[vdogg89 @ Apr 8th 2008 9:37AM]

finally a device that can be claimed as "not an iPhone ripoff"

[Alex R @ Apr 8th 2008 9:51AM]

Racists!

[dizzie @ Apr 8th 2008 10:19AM]

Lenovo has always been a leader in beautiful hardware design. Just look at the evolution of their laptop designs over the past 10 years. True genius. Not.

[Christian Martin @ Apr 8th 2008 5:05PM]

The scroll
The scroll
The buttons
The buttons
Scrollin' so smooth
Like the butter on the muffins.

[Jenn @ Apr 8th 2008 6:38PM]

It doesn't look a whole lot different than when Engadget showed it the first time: http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/05/lenovos-prepping-its-first-mid/

[aoi tsuki @ Apr 8th 2008 11:34PM]

Wow. i never wondered what would happen if the PSP mated with the Jaguar controller, and yet, here we are.

[peshue @ Apr 9th 2008 2:23AM]

Well the sftware looks real good, the hardware is something else though. It reminds me of a Game Gear.

[andrew @ Apr 12th 2008 10:01AM]

I want one and now. I have been looking for a different type of phone, but will the phone work in the us?

[umpcmonster @ Apr 12th 2008 8:38PM]

This is a linux based touch screen UMPC with built-in support of simcard for voice & data comms and external connection interface for WiMax, featuring Intel processor, SSD storage, 512mb memory and maybe a webcam on the top right corner as you can see in the video.

This is basically a MINI COMPUTER, prototype though as the lady mentioned. It's SOUND-ENABLED and the lady turned it off because there was a presentation nearby. So stop comparing it with your 1990s handheld and Jaguar controller, and I suppose Lenovo will sort out Keyboard & BT things on the final release.

[jewbagel666 @ Apr 30th 2008 10:37PM]

thank god its not running vista i was forced in to downloading it by microsoft and im ready to end my life after 3 hours of use