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Lenovo's new ThinkPad Yogas are thinner, lighter and... silverier
The black, boxy ThinkPad design is so iconic, so predictable, that even a simple color change is enough to make us do a double-take. That was our first reaction to Lenovo's new ThinkPad 260 and 460, both of which are arriving this fall with a silver option -- the first time in a while that we've seen Lenovo put out a business notebook in anything other than basic black. Aside from the lighter color choice, both laptops stick to the signature Yoga design, meaning they have a 360-degree hinge allowing the screen to fold back into tablet, "Stand" or "Tent" mode. As on previous ThinkPad Yogas, the 260 and 460 feature Lenovo's "Lift 'n' Lock" keyboard, which flattens out the keys as you flip it back. There's also a slot on both models for the accompanying pen, which recharges when it's in its garage.
Lenovo strips some of the unwanted software from its PCs
Lenovo said it was rethinking its approach to pre-loaded software on PCs in the wake of the Superfish security fiasco, and it's now clear that the computer maker wasn't kidding around. It's promising that its home PC software bundles going forward will be limited to Windows, in-house apps and security software. The only exceptions will occur in certain countries, where some third-party apps are "customarily expected." That IdeaPad or Yoga won't be truly bloatware-free (that would limit you to Windows alone), but a lot of the annoying and potentially dangerous cruft will be gone. Just be prepared to wait a while before you see leaner, cleaner Lenovo computers. The system builder is starting to tidy things up right away, but its effort won't be in full swing until Windows 10 arrives.
Lenovo fills out its line of convertible 'Yoga' laptops with more sizes
Not too long ago, Lenovo updated its high-end Yoga laptop with a much thinner, much lighter build. Now that the company's got its precious flagship taken care of, it's turning its attention to some of the mid-range models. The outfit just unveiled its 2015 Yoga lineup, which brings new size options, fresh processors and, in some cases, lighter designs.
Get motivated to get moving with Movn
Movn: Simple Pedometer & Movement Goal Coach wants to help you become more active. All of us have decided at some point to increase our daily activity by taking a long walk, or jogging, or riding a bicycle, or yoga, or any number of activities. But how many of us have failed to follow through and actually do more? Probably most of us. That is where Movn comes in. The free app works on all iPhones and 2nd generation iPads and later and requires iOS 7.1 or later. Movn works as a simple pedometer to count your steps by using the accelerometer and GPS in your iPhone. It also tracks how long you have been active so if you did a stationary warmup before starting your walk it measures that time too. Users indicate what activity they are participating in such as walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, or working out at the gym with weight or in an organized yoga or pilates class. Once you do that decide what your goal is for how long you want to be active during the day. The time ranges from thirty minutes to three hours. That's all you have to do. As long as you have your phone somewhere on your person Movn will track your activity time and count the number of steps you take. The app also gives you a map showing the path of your latest activity. I did some mall walking to test the app and even though I was inside the map showed a close up view of the mall and my path from one end of the mall to the other and back. So you are all set now. You have your goal and you know what you are going to do but you still need to follow through and get moving. The app offers a place where you can set up a notification in case you sit too long. Set a time and Movn notifies you that you have not been active for that long. It tells you politely that you have been sitting for more than whatever time you selected and you need to get going. The app keeps you engaged while you try to reach your goal with additional messages like park your car far away and walk or take the stairs. Once you reach your goal for the day, the app recognizes your achievement. Movn also records your daily activity and allows you to see how you have been doing over the last week or month. If you are really serious about getting into shape and workout regularly then Movn is probably not for you. You will find other apps that can provide more information besides just the number of steps and the time you were active. If you are just looking for a little push to get you going and keep your activity level at a higher level, then Movn might be just what you need.
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro Ultrabook brings a thinner and lighter design
Remember how Intel recently unveiled a new family of chips designed to make 2-in-1 laptops much thinner and much lighter? Of course you do. Anyway, get ready to see lots of machines coming out this holiday season with extra-compact designs. Case in point: Lenovo's new Yoga 3 Pro Ultrabook, which launched today with a chassis that's 14 percent lighter and 17 percent thinner. All told, it weighs in at just 1.19kg, or 2.62 pounds. That's impressive even for a 13-inch Ultrabook, and it's definitely an improvement over the last-gen Yoga 2 Pro, which came in at 3.06 pounds.
Smart yoga mat helps you perfect your poses
Yoga can be a great way to stay healthy, but it's hard to refine your technique at those times you can't see an instructor. SmartMat may have a solution for when you're stuck at home, though. Its self-titled smart yoga mat gives you feedback on poses by sending pressure data to an app on your Android or iOS device. On a basic level, it helps you perfect your poses by suggesting corrections to your alignment and balance; you can also teach yourself new moves through downloadable lessons, and there's a "Zen mode" if you'd prefer to enjoy the moment and get feedback later.
Lenovo Yoga 2 11-inch now available, starting at $519
If you've been itching for a new convertible since CES last month, sales pages for Lenovo's refreshed Yoga line have started popping up online. Best Buy has the 11-inch Bay-Trail-equipped Yoga 2 listed for $519, while you can buy direct from the manufacturer for $799 -- a far cry higher than the previously announced $529. With the yellow-tag store's lower price, however, comes a caveat: the Yoga 2 doesn't have a release date just yet. It's totally up to you if ordering (Lenovo's ship time is "within three weeks") the touchscreen's efficient 2.4GHz Pentium, 4GB of RAM and 500GB hard drive right now is worth the premium though. After all, $280 is still a decent amount of cash. [Thanks, Patrick!]
Daily Roundup: flexible 3D-printed material, Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga review and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga review: a good (if slightly heavy) Ultrabook for business users
It's pretty clear that Lenovo made a bit of a mistake with its original Yoga laptop. Don't get us wrong, we liked -- no, loved -- it, but we could never get over how awkward it was to use in tablet mode: Every time you folded the screen over, you had your fingers pressed against the loose keys on the back. It was enough of an oversight that even other companies took note: first Sony with its Flip line and now Toshiba with its 5-in-1 convertible that has a reversible keyboard. Lenovo also seems to have learned its lesson: The new ThinkPad Yoga has a "Lift 'n' Lock" keyboard that flattens out as you flip the screen back into tablet mode, making exposed buttons a thing of the past (mostly, anyway). It also allows for pen input -- something you still won't find on the consumer version. Even then, the ThinkPad Yoga introduces some trade-offs of its own: It's thicker and heavier than the new Yoga 2 Pro, which doesn't have a self-flattening keyboard, and it makes do with a not-quite-as-sharp screen. Those compromises aside, could this be the Yoga you've been waiting for?
Daily Roundup: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One comparison, unlocked iPhone 5s from Apple, Yoga Tablet review and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Switched On: The Yoga Tablet does kickstands with a twist
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. If one takes a narrow view of the tablet market, the largest PC makers have fared especially poorly as a group. At the launch of the iPad, HP, Dell, Acer and Lenovo had little experience with the Android ecosystem, which itself was not optimized for tablets. And Windows, their go-to operating system, was still not available in a version that would show off bold, finger-friendly tiles and yield long battery life in a slim form factor. Even now as these companies have experimented with all kinds of hinges and accessories on Windows, their Android efforts can be hard to differentiate as with HP's Slate 7 and Dell's recent 7- and 8-inch slates. Into this spiritless landscape, Lenovo has dropped the Yoga Tablet, available in 8- and 10-inch sizes. Unlike its namesake Windows laptop, which reveals no obvious signs of its differentiation at first glance, the Yoga Tablet has a silver, cylindrical side that is reminiscent of extended laptop batteries. Indeed, it contains the battery here as well as making for a grip that is at first unfamiliar, but which allows the rest of the tablet to be very thin.
Lenovo's 'Yoga' Android tablet has a built-in kickstand containing an 18-hour battery (hands-on)
What does Ashton Kutcher have to do with a couple of Android tablets? We don't know either. What we do know is that Lenovo just announced a highly unusual device, and it's unique enough that Lenovo would have had our attention even if didn't use the "Jobs" actor as a spokesperson. What you see above is the previously leaked Yoga Tablet, which has a built-in kickstand that also houses a humongous cylindrical battery (one capable of lasting 18 hours, according to Lenovo). A little more memorable than Lenovo's previous Android tablets, wouldn't you say? True to its name (it's named after Lenovo's convertible Yoga PCs), the screen can fold over, though it's not quite as flexible as the original. All told, it can rotate 135 degrees, allowing for three different usage modes. As you'd expect, you can use it as a traditional tablet with the kickstand closed ("Read mode") or you can open the kickstand so that the tablet's propped up on its own (that'd be "Stand mode"). But there's also "Tilt mode," which involves laying the tablet face-up with the cylindrical battery keeping the device slightly propped up, allowing for easier on-screen typing.
Lenovo IdeaPad B6000 and B8000 tablets spotted at German online retailers
When you're in the game of leaking your own products, why not do it properly? Those self-supporting Yoga Tablets we saw sneak out via Lenovo recently seem to tally well with the above pictured IdeaPad press shots. The pictures actually come from a couple of German retail listings for two tablets -- the IdeaPad B6000-F and B8000-F. The former is an 8-inch (1,280 x 800) slab of Jelly Bean (4.2) housing a 5-megapixel camera, 6,000 mAh battery and 1GB RAM / 16GB memory with a 1.2GHz MediaTek MT8125 quad-core chip. The IdeaPad B8000-F steps things up to a 10-inch display at the same resolution, and matches the spec-sheet of the 6000 apart from a much beefier 9,000 mAh battery. Prices shown start at 215 euros for the smaller, rising to 280 for the bigger screen. As for Lenovo? You know where we are if you ever fancy going back to using a good old-fashioned press release.
Lenovo announces Yoga 2 Pro with 3,200 x 1,800 screen, slimmer design (update: video)
We think we can all agree the Lenovo Yoga has been long due for an upgrade: while every other flagship Ultrabook got refreshed with Haswell, the Yoga 13 stuck around with Ivy Bridge and a relatively low-res 1,600 x 900 display. It was getting so long in the tooth, in fact, that we almost didn't recommend it in our most recent laptop buyer's guide. Well, Lenovo's finally giving us the upgrade we've been asking for, and if specs are any indication, it might have actually been worth the wait. The new Yoga 2 takes a big step up to a 13-inch, 350-nit, 3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen, putting it well ahead of its peers, most of which max out at 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. As you'd expect, this new model runs on fourth-gen Intel Core processors (all the way up to i7), with the battery life now rated at up to nine hours. The Yoga also adds Intel Wireless Display, in accordance with the current Ultrabook spec. Equally important: the new model measures 15.5mm thick (versus 17.1mm on the original) and sheds about half a pound so that it now weighs a little over 3 pounds (3.06, to be exact, or 1.39kg). And believe us when we say that half-pound makes a difference: chalk it up to muscle memory, but we could instantly feel the difference when we picked it up for the first time. We don't remember the original ever being this thin or light.
Dell VP says forthcoming XPS 11 will be a Yoga-style hybrid
It's Computex week, which means the technology world is ready to talk up the PCs it'll be pushing out between now and January. Dell's Kirk Schell has let it slip that the company will be beefing up its mobile offerings with an 11.6-inch laptop that should arrive in time for the holidays. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Dell XPS 11 will come with a high-definition display that can be folded backwards to use as a tablet -- which would have been exciting, but for the fact Lenovo got there first.
The Daily Roundup for 04.29.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 review
More Info Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 shipping this month for $1,099, ARM-powered Yoga 11 coming in December Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 review Microsoft Surface with Windows RT review Normally, when a company releases two laptops in different sizes (the MacBook Air, anyone?) we review just one: we assume you'll get the gist about the design and trackpad the first time, ya know? So it's funny, then, that we're taking a look at the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 after we've already tested the Yoga 13 and named it one of our favorite Windows 8 convertibles. They look alike, with an inventive hinge allowing you to fold the screen back like a book cover. The keyboards are the same too, though the 11-incher's is understandably a tad more crowded. They even have the same oddly shaped power port. Except, of course, they're totally different products. Whereas the Yoga 13 is a proper laptop, with a Core i5 processor and full Windows 8, the Yoga 11 runs Windows RT, and is powered by a Tegra 3 chip (yes, the same one you're used to seeing in Android tablets). That means a big dip in performance, but exponentially longer battery life. Legacy x86 apps are off-limits too, given that this is Windows RT and all. Now that we've set up that equation for you (weaker performance plus longer battery life minus standard Windows apps equals what?) let's meet up after the break to see if this is just as good a deal as its big brother.%Gallery-186960%
Lenovo's Yoga bus spins you round like a record, baby (video)
Promoting Lenovo's range of Yoga transforming devices requires a certain amount of original thinking. That must be the reason the company installed a rotating chair wheel into a glass-sided bus and forced unsuspecting users to use the new transforming Ultrabook while dangling upside down. Still, the participants don't seem to disturbed by all of the gravity-defying computing, and if you'd like to watch their travails, you can catch the footage after the break -- albeit with a soundtrack that's a little on the salty side.
Lenovo announces the IdeaPad Yoga 11S with Ivy Bridge, Windows 8; arrives in June for $799+
That headline says it all, doesn't it? The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S is like the Yoga 11, except instead of an ARM chip, it has a laptop-grade Ivy Bridge processor. That means it's more powerful, of course, but more importantly, since this is an x86 system it runs full Windows 8 instead of Windows RT. Hello, legacy application support! As a full-fledged PC, the 11S also steps up to a higher-quality display: a 1,600 x 900 IPS screen, compared with a 1,366 x 768 LCD on the Yoga 11. Other than that, this has fundamentally the same design as the other Yoga laptops, which is to say its screen can fold all the way around into tablet mode (with in-between options, like Tent and Stand modes). As you can see in those press shots, it has the same look and feel, too, including a soft-touch finish and a relatively cushy keyboard. As you'd imagine, though, it's a bit heftier than the lower-powered ARM version: it measures 0.68 inch thick, instead of 0.61. On the inside, it can accommodate up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of solid-state storage, with the top processor option being a dual-core Core i5 CPU. Just what you were hoping Lenovo would make? Today's your lucky day, but you'll still want to hold your horses: the 11S won't actually go on sale until June. When it does, though, it'll start at $799.
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 review
Make no mistake: Lenovo is taking this Windows 8 thing very seriously. The company's first-generation of Win 8 devices includes everything from a laptop / tablet hybrid to a classic convertible laptop with a swiveling display. Then there's the Yoga. This, too, is a convertible, in the sense that it can be used as a tablet. But it's not like any convertible you used back in the Win 7 era: the screen folds 360 degrees back, turning this Ultrabook into a giant, 13-inch slate. Because of that special hinge, though, you can also bend it into Downward Dog, to use a Yoga term ("tent mode," if you're nasty) or fold the keyboard underneath so that only screen is exposed. It was one of the most memorable things unveiled at CES, and it remains the most striking Windows 8 design we've seen to date. But what's it like to actually use it? And how does it fare as, you know, a plain old $1,000 Ultrabook? Let's find out.%Gallery-170641%
