Video: Lenovo's Ideapad U8 interface scrolls like butter, looks like candy
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Apr 8th 2008 3:32AM
posted Apr 8th 2008 3:32AM
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]
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.
That thing is fugly as hell. I don't know, it reminds me of an atari jaguar controller, with a screen on it.
Fugly or not, all I know is that title makes me want to eat it!
i dunno what the writer is thinking, this thing looks like a 1990s handheld
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.
thats because theyre talking about the UI being pretty not the actual handheld :)
I want my Sega Gamegear back!
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.)
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.
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.
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.
Well the sftware looks real good, the hardware is something else though. It reminds me of a Game Gear.
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?
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.
@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
look at the top tool bar....that's windows mobile!
its gnome linux ;)
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.
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。
finally a device that can be claimed as "not an iPhone ripoff"
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
Racists!
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.
The scroll
The scroll
The buttons
The buttons
Scrollin' so smooth
Like the butter on the muffins.
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/
Wow. i never wondered what would happen if the PSP mated with the Jaguar controller, and yet, here we are.
I want one and now. I have been looking for a different type of phone, but will the phone work in the us?
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.