Lenovo has unveiled the Yoga Book, a 2-in-1 design with a unique touch-based lower half below a conventional 1920×1200 IPS touch display. Lenovo is calling the Yoga Book "the world’s thinnest and lightest 2-in-1", with a 9.6mm thickness and weight of 1.52 pounds.
This lower section is a hybrid design, combining Lenovo's "Halo Keyboard" virtual keyboard with a surface called "Create Pad"; allowing the lower half to be used for pen writing (with handwriting recognition) and drawing. The "Real Pen" (which is a dual-use ink pen and stylus) offers 2,048 pressure levels and 100-degree angle detection, according to Lenovo, and promises a precise experience when writing and creating artwork.
"The Halo Keyboard re-imagines the possibilities of a modern keyboard, while providing the technology platform for all other standout Yoga Book productivity-driven features, such as the Create Pad and Real Pen. It appears to the user as a full, backlit virtual keyboard with shortcut keys for a typing experience that matches that of a physical keyboard, easily overcoming the challenges of typing on a tablet screen."
"The lack of physical keys also allows the Halo Keyboard’s flush surface to house the Create Pad. For the artists and free hand note-takers, the Create Pad converts into a virtual notepad that instantly digitizes everything from doodles and to-do lists to web page annotations and on-screen notes, using the Real Pen and our Note Saver app."
The Yoga Book is available in both Android and Windows versions, with the Android version offering a custom interface called "Book UI". As to hardware, both versions are powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8550 processor (quad-Core, up to 2.4 GHz) with 4GB of LPDDR3 memory and 64GB of onboard storage (expandable via microSD cards up to 128GB in size).
What about pricing? This might be surprising for a high-concept device like this, as Lenovo has chosen to compete in the $500 tablet space. The Android-powered Yoga Book starts at $499, with the Yoga Book with Windows at $549. Both will be available starting in October.
Full press release after the break.
BERLIN, Germany – Aug. 31, 2016 – Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today launched the Yoga Book, the world’s thinnest and lightest 2-in-1 [1] tablet, designed for unmatched productivity while on-the-go. Built for mobility and to solve the most common challenge among tablet users – how to achieve productivity and entertainment in one device – the Yoga Book is a tablet that looks and acts like no other. Up until now, we’ve been using tablets in ways we weren’t meant to: for productivity, for example, which becomes painful when typing or applying a stylus onto a touch screen that you’re using on-the-go. The Yoga Book removes that difficulty by taking the fundamental building blocks from the DNA of what makes a great tablet – namely portability, long battery life and a rich app ecosystem – and entwines it into a strand of creativity and productivity through a suite of powerful new hardware and software features, including:
- The instant halo keyboard
- The dual-use stylus that writes on paper and screen
- The productivity-driven Book UI
“We set out to redefine the tablet category conundrum, namely that consumers no longer separate their activities into productivity and entertainment – it all blends together, and so should the device they use,” said Jeff Meredith, vice president and general manager, Android and Chrome Computing, Lenovo. “The Yoga Book introduces keyboard and handwriting input capability in an elegantly simple, unconventionally slender tablet design. We believe our unique design will offer tablet, 2-in-1 and traditional notebook buyers a first-of-its-kind option for evolving usage trends.”
Ultra-Thin and Light
With two panels that open up like an ultrathin notebook, the Yoga Book is unconventionally slender and light years removed from the tablet that you’re accustomed to using on the go or while sitting in your home. As the world’s thinnest 2-in-1, the Yoga Book is 9.6mm closed, tapering to 4.05mm at its slimmest edge – a thickness of just under three pennies. And because it’s also the lightest 2-in-1 in the world at 690 grams (1.52 pounds), the Yoga Book is made to match the mobility of a smartphone, so you can easily hold and carry, just like a book. Users who take the Yoga Book with them on day trips have the option to work anywhere – on a busy commute, in a packed waiting room or on a crowded countertop – if and when they feel like it, thanks to the thin and light design, 15-hour[2] battery life and a watchband hinge that folds 360 degrees. And if users don’t feel like working, they’ll have a topof-the-line entertainment tablet to keep them company, with a 10.1-inch IPS FHD screen, high-quality sound enhanced with Dolby Atmos® and 64GB of memory.
Instant Halo Keyboard
The Yoga Book’s first productivity feature is also what makes the thin and light design possible: the halo keyboard, a full touch screen backlit keyboard that weaves software and hardware into one fluid interface. The touch screen is made with glass that was meticulously chosen to give a rough, matte feel and finish, along with anti-glare coating to ensure the best possible touch-typing experience. The keyboard lacks any physical keys, showing up as a solid white outline on the Yoga Book’s second panel only when it’s needed. The halo keyboard constantly ‘learns about and adapts to’ the typing habits of its user, with built-in prediction and artificial learning software. This software also allows for continuous optimization. Along with built-in, sensitive haptic technology, which enables touch feedback to guide typing and reduce mistakes, the halo keyboard far surpasses the typing experience and speed of a normal tablet, and is comparable with that of a physical keyboard.
Real-Pen Accessory – Dual Use Stylus
The flush surface of the halo keyboard feature also allows for a few additional uses when paired with the Yoga Book’s standard real-pen accessory, a dual-use stylus. Inspired by the elegance and simplicity of real notebooks, Yoga Book is an acknowledgement that we all still love to write and draw on paper. Users can now write with the real-pen accessory that holds real ink tips onto a piece of paper or notepad covering the multi-use keyboard panel, or as a stylus when applied straight onto the panel. Everything they create, from doodles and drawings to notes, is instantly digitized and saved with the Lenovo note-saving app.[3] Roughly the size of a conventional ink pen, the real-pen accessory is powered by Wacom feel™ IT technologies to work with the state-of-the-art electro-magnetic resonance (EMR) film housed within the multi-use keyboard, which enables this real-time digitization. The multi-use keyboard and real-pen accessory recreate the natural feel of drawing flat on a paper surface instead of directly onto a computer screen, without having to block parts of the art work with the hand or stylus. Or you can draw directly on the screen as well, depending on preference. The real-pen accessory can draw with the precision of a pencil or paintbrush, with 2,048 pressure levels and 100-degree angle detection. In addition, you’ll never have to charge or replace it – the real-pen accessory doesn’t require batteries and its ink can be replaced with standard ink tips, just like that of a conventional pen.
Book UI and Hinge
As a 2-in-1 that weaves together both hardware and software, Yoga Book truly brings work and play into one tablet through the Book UI, the Yoga Book’s specially adapted Android 6.0 operating system that draws from the best UI features of laptops and tablets. The Book UI allows several apps to run at once through multiple windows that can be pinned, maximized or minimized, as well as a taskbar that keeps track of your apps and common Windows keyboard shortcuts and action keys. This additional new workload is easily handled by the Yoga Book’s powerful Intel® Atom™ X5 processor and 4GB of memory. And Windows users also have the option to work on that platform, as the Yoga Book is available on Windows 10.
Constructed from a combination of magnesium and aluminium alloys, the Yoga Book is robust in build and guaranteed to turn heads. As with all Yoga products, it has the distinctive watchband-style hinge. This time, the hinge is engineered to be smaller and features a custom-made three-axis hinge, with 130 different mechanical pieces comprising five different materials. Lab tested more than 25,000 times, the Yoga Book form offers a smooth, seamless transition between the four modes – Browse, Watch, Create and Type. The Yoga Book with Android is available in Gold or Gunmetal, while the Yoga Book with Windows comes in Carbon Black.
Pricing and Availability
- The Yoga Book starts at $499 available starting in October 2016.
- The Yoga Book with Windows $549 available starting in October 2016.
Discover more at www.lenovo.com/lenovolaunch and www.lenovo.com/ifa. To stay updated on the latest Lenovo IFA News, follow #LenovoLaunch and #LenovoIFA on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For additional details on the Yoga Book visit:
Yoga Book: The first tablet for natural sketching and note-taking
Yoga Book: Projecting a halo effect on the next generation of keyboards
Yoga Book: The world’s thinnest and lightest 2-in-1
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $46 billion global Fortune 500 company and a leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology. Our portfolio of high-quality, secure products and services covers PCs (including the legendary Think and multimode YOGA brands), workstations, servers, storage, smart TVs and a family of mobile products like smartphones (including the Moto brand), tablets and apps. Join us on LinkedIn, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@Lenovo) or visit us at www.lenovo.com.
[1] Based on Lenovo’s internal analysis as of 8/18/16 of 10.1” or greater 2-in-1 computers (sold with keyboard) using Windows, Android, Chrome or OSX sold by major competitors shipping >1 million units worldwide annually; measured with keyboard attached in closed position.
[2] Android edition; based on a mixed use profile that includes online browsing, playing music and video, reading, drawing and typing. Windows edition offers 13 hours battery life. Actual results will vary, and depend on numerous factors including product configuration and usage, software, operating conditions, wireless functionality, power management settings, screen brightness and other factors. The maximum capacity of the battery will naturally decrease with time and usage.
[3] Available only on Android. Similar to OneNote on Yoga Book with Windows.
[4] Prices do not include tax or shipping or options and are subject to change without notice; additional terms and conditions apply. Reseller prices may vary. On-shelf dates may vary by geography and products may only be available in selected markets. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings, features and specifications at any time without notice.
Is the inking software from
Is the inking software from Lenovo any good?
Who knows, but that SuperFish
Who knows, but that SuperFish may be there to snag any personal notes and drawings that you may be working on under Andorid! Windows is another story as the SuperFish may not be able to get any spying done with all those windows 10 layers of spyware above getting all your personal metrics and leaving the SuperFish(Spyware) with not enough CPU cycles to function!
I’m pretty sure it uses
I’m pretty sure it uses Wacoms Inkling tech thats been out for a while. Seems proven.
That keyboard is ridiculously
That keyboard is ridiculously cool its almost certainly inferior to physical keys but god damn is it cool looking. Why the whole expansion by up to 128gb microsd card thing? You have been able to get 200gb cards for a while now and 256gb cards are now available. This thing makes me want to learn to draw.
Edit: looking at there website it looks like its keyboard/drawing tablet is not a screen. They are selling custom fit sheets of paper to go over the tablet to write on. This is far less cool then what the initial impression was. Especially given that this paper comes in packs of 20 I’m sure those are real cheap.
Yeah the tablet/keyboard
Yeah the tablet/keyboard works like a Wacom Bamboo.I guess the reason is so you can keep your palm off the screen when drawing which is a benefit for artists. Also the paper is not proprietary. Any paper and pen refill can be used. The paper size I think is A5 (similar to big moleskines).
How is Lenovo still in
How is Lenovo still in business? All they make is trash with pre installed malware lol.
Lenovo does everything. Good
Lenovo does everything. Good and bad. It’s up to you to choose. I like it.
What the fuck does that mean?
What the fuck does that mean? They do EVERYTHING?
No they dont. They make shitty sub par hardware and load it with malware.
I dont choose what Lenovo makes. They choose to make malware infested shit.
So you choose Windows and
So you choose Windows and then pick Lenovo to complain about malware?
Not posting from a windows
Not posting from a windows machine. Try again.
So how are you affected by
So how are you affected by Lenovo malware?
The more people who buy made
The more people who buy made in China garbage, the worse the market gets overall. Perhaps you should study feedback loops and how markets work.
Its money going to a company that makes shit, which will reinforce their shitmaking, instead of going to companies that actually make good products.
In case you havent noticed, the quality of consumer goods has been getting worse instead of better.
Now THIS is a nice model,
Now THIS is a nice model, well done Lenovo!