Lenovo officially announced its Windows 8 ThinkPad Tablet 2 this week, which will be aimed at professionals. But the company’s consumer side is also preparing its Windows 8 products, including its IdeaPad Yoga, which was shown off earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The computer has a unique design: It looks like a regular laptop until the screen folds backwards to morph it into a tablet.
The device is scheduled to hit the market around the time of the general availability of Windows 8, which is slated for Oct. 26, ABC News has learned. There will be two versions of the Yoga – one that has an Intel processor and one that has a lower-powered ARM Nvidia Tegra processor. The ARM version will have double the battery life of the Intel version, sources said.
Microsoft has three versions of Windows 8 – Windows RT for ARM processors, which are lower-powered, and Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro for x86 Intel and AMD processors.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that Lenovo is prepping to release a Windows RT tablet with a “keyboard that flips around.” ABC News’ sources confirmed that this tablet is, in fact, the Yoga.
While Windows RT tablets based on ARM won’t have access to all the legacy applications for Windows, Windows RT tablets, like the Yoga, will have access to all the apps in Microsoft’s Store, which will be launched alongside Windows 8 in October. A lot of Windows 8 computers and tablets are expected in October, including Microsoft’s own Surface tablet. Earlier this week Lenovo’s Dilip Bhatia told ABC News that Surface has brought excitement to the market.
When reached, a Lenovo spokesperson said the company will have a number of Windows 8 devices, but wouldn’t comment on unannounced products.