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Lenovo LePhone S899t with ICS reportedly in the works for China Mobile
According to a recent leak on Chinese site PConline, Lenovo's reportedly working on an Ice Cream Sandwich slab with China Mobile said to be on the receiving end of the delivery. Currently known as the LePhone S899t, this handset's allegedly friendly with the carrier's TD-SDCMA 3G network, while it's also said to feature a dual-core, NovaThor U8500 CPU, a 4.5-inch, IPS display for all viewing pleasures and, as stated earlier, it runs flavor of Google's latest OS. Aside from the purported specs, Lenovo's LePhone S899t is expected to be priced at a mere 1,299 yuan (around $200) once China Mobile makes the device official (no word on when that'll be). Either way, it's not like Lenovo's giving you a shortage of options.
Lenovo LePhone K2 to arrive with 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core chip
Frankly speaking, the phones that Lenovo have announced so far this week haven't been all that exciting (unless, of course, you're somehow aroused by its 5-inch tabletphone), but it turned out the folks had a little surprise for us: the LePhone K2. What we got here is a 4.3-inch IPS display (resolution of which not yet announced), a powerful dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 chip, 1GB RAM, 1GB ROM and an eight megapixel 1080p camera. Sadly, like the S2 and the S760, this crouching tiger also packs Android 2.3.5 instead of Ice Cream Sandwich, but without a price or a release date, perhaps there's still a small chance that we'll see it eventually launching with the newer OS. Anyhow, that's just our wishful thinking. Chinese hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-140597%
Lenovo says no Android tablet in US until Honeycomb; no Windows 7 tablet, period
If you happen to be enthusiastic about Lenovo, tablets, and your American residency, look away now. Lenovo still plans to ship the Android-based LePad in China some time soonish, but its US roadmap can pretty much be summed up as "wait and see." The company's COO Rory Read has been cited as saying there are no plans to release a slate for the US market until at least Android's Honeycomb version comes out, agreeing with Google on the point that Froyo is not "the right base to have a fully functioning pad." Lest you think Windows 7 will fill the void until whenever in 2011 that Android tablet does arrive, Lenovo's director of new technology, Howard Locker, sets you straight: "Windows 7 is based on the same paradigm as 1985 -- it's really an interface that's optimized for a mouse and keyboard," and the Thinking machine team doesn't intend to build a slate around it. And if you were thinking of maybe picking up a LePhone as a consolation prize, tough luck, that won't be arriving in the US for at least another two years (which in smartphone terms is basically "never"), although it's good to know that it's now got 13 percent of the smartphone market in China. You know, in case you own stock in LeCompany.
Lenovo LePhone unboxed, exhaustively reviewed ahead of launch in China
We're not sure how we missed this one, but it's better late than never -- turns out some lucky jerks in China were given a Lenovo LePhone to play with back in mid-April, and the guys at Sooyuu have just finished the fifth and final part of their lengthy review, just in time for the May launch. We weren't expecting any changes since our last encounter at CES, but apparently the 3.7-inch screen's now been upgraded from LCD to AMOLED, and like the Palm Pre, the LePhone also sports a gesture area below the screen. Of course, there's also the never-before-seen packaging that we totally dig, not to mention the bundled goodies such as a leather case, a noise-isolation handsfree kit (but sans music and volume control), plus a magnetic dock adapter. As for software, the reviewer praises Lenovo's snappy, heavily customized Android with its vast Chinese social networking service integration, music store, video apps, and an impressive Chinese turn-by-turn navigation suite. We almost want to adopt this baby, only to be let down by its 3.2-megapixel camera's mediocre quality, lack of flash, and inability to autofocus. Anyhow, you can be the final judge -- head over to Sooyuu for plenty more pictures.
Lenovo talks up LePhone, shows off app store ahead of May launch
Lenovo's Android-based LePhone (not LePhono, sadly) may not be officially launching in China until next month, but the company did just hold a launch event of sorts in the country, in which it revealed a few new details and did a fair bit of boasting. According to The Wall Street Journal, Lenovo says that it's aiming to sell "millions" of the phones in the next five years, and "tens of millions" after that -- although not just involving this particular phone, obviously. Lenovo COO Rory Read also reportedly further added that the company is ready for a "tough fight" against Apple's iPhone, and that Lenovo will have a "better brand position" that RIM, which hasn't yet gained a significant foothold in China. That's certainly plenty ambitious for a company new to the cellphone space, and should no doubt only further fuel those rumors of a certain acquisition. In other le news, Lenovo also apparently further demonstrated the tweaked version of Android that the handset will use (first seen at CES), and it has shown off its own app store for the first time, which can already be browsed at the site linked below.
Lenovo LePhone seen again, Android skinned like Skylight
We've been graced with a stack of new shots of Lenovo's LePhone, and, beauty aside, another standout here is the similarity of this phone's Android / OPhone skin to Lenovo's Skylight OS. Of course, they're not the same UI exactly, but, between that and the optional keyboard accessory that mirrors the IdeaPad U1's detachable display, it looks like the beginning of a happy -- and winsome -- family. Wander on to the gallery for all the shimmering and glossy poses -- including one that looks suspiciously like HTC's typical exploded view of all angles. %Gallery-82725%
Lenovo LePhone Android device announced for China (update: hands-on video!)
Lenovo has just announced the LePhone for the Chinese WCDMA market, available in May this year. Notable features include a vibrant 3.7-inch 800x480 capacitive touchscreen (not OLED, sadly), 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, 3.5mm headphone jack, a camera on both the front and back (3 megapixels for the latter), A-GPS, WiFi (but no WAPI, strangely), removable battery and a proprietary 9-pin dock connector. Lovers of physical keyboards may be interested in the optional external keyboard -- the clamshell-style snap-on is very similar to the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid's. On the software front the LePhone will have Android 1.6 (yeah, we know) which is somewhat enhanced with accelerometer-based gesture control (read: tilting) and, dare we say, a few design cues from the iPhone OS -- the voice-call interface shown in the presentation video is a perfect example. There will also be a carrier-specific application store which Lenovo couldn't demo at the event. Similarly, details on prices, carriers and plans of international launch were missing. Presentation and hands-on videos after the break.
