Lenovo today reshaped its ThinkCentre business desktop line by introducing its first all-in-one (AIO) desktop PC - the ThinkCentre A70z. Built for the needs of small and medium businesses (SMB) all the way up to large corporations, the AIO delivers a compelling alternative to the traditional desktop PC, starting at just $499. Despite the budget-friendly price tag, the high performance all in one comes with Intel Core2Duo processors and delivers blazing fast boot up time as one of Lenovo's Enhanced Experience certified PCs. The ThinkCentre A70z saves 70 percent more space, takes less time to set up and service and consumes less power than traditional desktops. At the same time, the AIO adds a new touch of style and sophistication for today's modern office. Lenovo today also introduced the ThinkCentre A58e tower desktop, bringing SMBs an affordable and reliable computing solution.

"We've heard from a number of IT managers in a variety of industries, from education, to finance to healthcare, and they've all told us they need desktops that conserve space, save on energy consumption and are easy to maintain and service," said Dilip Bhatia, worldwide desktop marketing, Lenovo. "The new ThinkCentre A70z exceeds these needs - not only is it compact, super energy efficient and quick to service, but it's also high performance and extremely affordable."

Lenovo today unveiled five new ThinkVision monitors that advance "green" design and usability while providing an unmatched visual-rich experience. The new line-up includes Lenovo's flagship ThinkVision L2251x Wide monitor, the company's most environmentally-responsible monitor for its use of recycled plastics, low power consumption and first PC monitor to be TCO Certified Edge. As Lenovo's greenest monitors yet, the new ThinkVision L1711p, L1951p Wide, L2250p Wide, L2251p Wide and L2251x Wide extend Lenovo's environmental product commitment to "Reduce. Reuse. and Recycle." All the new monitors are TCO Certified, EPEAT Gold Rated and are more than 50 percent more energy-efficient than previous models, exceeding the Energy Star 5.0 criteria.

"By establishing high standards for environmental responsibility and usability for PC monitors, TCO Certified Edge is helping encourage manufacturers to produce and customers to adopt greener technology," said Tom Shell, vice president, Visuals Business Unit, Lenovo. "TCO Certified Edge products like the ThinkVision L2251x Wide monitor illustrate how designing for energy and materials efficiency helps the environment and customers' IT budgets."

Lenovo for the first time, unveiled three of its upcoming products on Twitter. The three were presented in two twits. Slated for a formal announcement soon, are the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q100 and Q110 nettops, which LenovoPress (company PR staff) finds to be some of the thinnest nettops in the market. It packs just about enough power for everyday computing such as internet browsing, office and productivity. The two model number could denote different processors. The usual suspects are Atom N270 1.60 GHz single-core, and Z520 dual-core.

Next up is the IdeaCentre D400 home server. With its cubical design, the D400 looks big, but we don't expect it to be much larger than a 6-bay cubical NAS server. Expected to be under the hood are fairly mainstream components, and possibly a Windows Home Sever license, but we expect more details to emerge upon a formal announcement.

A day into its announcement, Google's ambitious new venture, the Chrome operating system, is receiving support from some of the biggest players in the IT industry. The company also confirmed that Chrome OS will be a free of charge software, requiring no purchase of license to use it. To ensure the OS gets adequate momentum, Google is working with the likes of HP, Acer, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm (some of the most relevant names in the netbook industry). The company also detailed about the developer support it plans to spread, with possible pre-release versions towards the end of the year. To the consumer, this means that major computer manufacturers could sell netbooks with Chrome OS preinstalled, with seamless support for their hardware. Early community software development will ensure a good selection of software for the netbook by the time the OS becomes release-grade, ready to be shipped with millions of netbooks.

Lenovo finally made the initiative to include a netbook powered by the VIA Nano processor. This IdeaPad S-12 uses the same exact name and chassis as the one powered by Intel Atom, based on i945 chipset, and exists merely as a variant in the S12 series. On the brighter side, it is priced $50 lower than its Atom-based cousin.

Its specifications include a 12-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, VIA Nano ULV 2250 processor clocked at 1.30 GHz, 1 GB DDR2 memory, VIA VX855 chipset with S3 Chrome9 HC3 integrated graphics, 160 GB of storage, and a 6-cell battery, 1.3 MP web-camera, WLAN and Ethernet, and optional Bluetooth. It comes with Windows XP SP3 pre-installed. Backed by a one-year warranty, the S12 is priced at US $449.

Lenovo today announced the IdeaPad S12, the company's first 12-inch netbook. The new netbook takes the best in connectivity, style and entertainment features in Lenovo's other netbooks and brings users the next level in netbook computing with improved usability and performance. These enhancements include a 12.1-inch screen, a 100 percent full-size keyboard and new graphics options with the NVIDIA ION platform.

"We've heard from consumers loud and clear about the need for affordable and extremely portable computing devices, and we've responded by introducing our third netbook with a completely new form factor, making mini-computing more usable and redefining value in today's market," said Dion Weisler, vice president, Business Operations, Idea Product Group, Lenovo. "We are pioneering new territory in the developing netbook arena by being the first vendor to give customers high quality video and entertainment capabilities in a netbook with optional NVIDIA ION graphics."

DisplayLink Corp. today celebrated reaching sales of more than one million USB graphics semiconductors. Embedded in more than thirty consumer and business products, DisplayLink chips - the DL-120 and DL-160 - make it possible for people to connect various visual computing devices to displays with an easy USB connection.

"DisplayLink has completely reinvented the way computers talk to displays. Our IC's make it possible to use standard plug and play USB to connect a laptop to one or more displsys, bringing the world a major step closer to the ideal "single world connector" status. Achieving sales of one million chips clearly shows the mainstream reach of our technology with customers and end-users who readily appreciate the simplicity of our approach and the productivity benefits of using multiple displays" said Hamid Farzaneh, president and CEO of DisplayLink.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lenovo to continue its long-standing relationship as a supplier of hard disk drives (HDD) for the development of PCs and notebooks on a worldwide basis. The MOU was signed at the "2009 U.S.-China Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum" taking place during the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's customary, commercial purchasing delegation visit to the United States, which aims to improve the trade balance between China and the United States.

AMD today announced that its entire line of industry leading ATI FirePro professional graphics accelerators are powering all-new OEM workstations for engineering, digital content creation and science professionals. AMD helps ensure that its ATI FirePro professional graphics accelerators maximize application performance and reliability by performing over 90 certifications with leading application providers such as Autodesk and Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks.

"The Dell Precision T7500, T5500 and T3500 and ATI FirePro graphics deliver an excellent balance of value and performance to workstation professionals," said Greg Weir, senior manager, Dell Product Group. "Dell, the world's leading supplier of workstations, is working with ATI to deliver workstation solutions that are reliable and scalable."

I once posted a news story on how well computer manufacturers are treating the environment according to the Greenpeace organization. Well I'm going to give you a little update on that story today. Last time Nintendo was the worst among worst when talking "green" and this year it is strengthening its position even more. From zero to eleven in being "green" (zero means worst) Nintendo scores the whooping 0. HP, Microsoft, Lenovo and Dell are next to have poor scores when it comes to preserving the world we live in. According to Greenpeace only Apple is "truly kicking the habit", maybe that's because they have an apple as their logo. Philips learned a lesson from last Greenpeace research and the company jumps from 15th to 4th place this year, well done Philips. The two best "green" manufacturers as of March 31st 2009 are Samsung and Nokia.

Pictured below is Lenovo's legal answer to Sony VAIO P uber netbook. Confirmed to be in the works, Lenovo's Pocket Yoga shares the same ultra-wide, VAIO P-like display and leather outer casing for the best appeal. The concept is still far away from production, however. While there're some final pictures specs, production schedule and availability date are still unknown. From the pictures we can only assume the Pocket Yoga will have a touch sensitive display, an integrated webcam, and a convertible design that would let the display flip backwards to use the device as tablet. Lenovo still has to officially announce the Pocket Yoga ultra-wide netbook. Click here for more pictures and design sketches.

DigiTimes recently reported that four out of the top-five branded PC vendors - Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lenovo and Acer - have been listed as branded PC products eligible for subsidies under the China government's rural stimulus program, and as a result are expected to enjoy increased sales in the China market in 2009. However, the number five ASUS did not gain the government's approval. According to ASUS that's because the company market their PC products under multiple tradenames. BenQ was another company not to find favor with the Chinese government. Exact details concerning the deal between the listed manufacturers and the Chinese government are still unclear.

Today, Microsoft Corp. and Lenovo announced the availability of the Ultimate Academic Personal Computer promotion with high-powered, highly functional, affordable laptop PCs designed specifically for college and university students, faculty, and staff. As part of the program, initially offered as a pilot by Microsoft, Lenovo will offer four different ThinkPad laptops pre-loaded with Windows Vista Ultimate and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007.

Our well known news informer DigiTimes claims that Lenovo plans to materialize an Intel Atom N280 powered IdeaPad S20 netbook featuring a 12-inch panel. If accomplished, Lenovo will be one step ahead of the competition, which currently offers only 10-inch netbook solutions for a reason described below.

Lenovo reportedly plans to launch an Atom N280-based IdeaPad S20 netbook featuring a 12-inch panel. The specification would break Intel's restrictions for netbook products that state devices cannot offer panel sizes larger than the 10-inch category, according to sources at notebook makers. As a consequence for breaking the restrictions, Lenovo will lose out on preferential pricing for the N280 processor, and would end up having to buy at Intel's officially announced price, which is around US$10 higher than typical quotes to vendors of Lenovo's size, the sources noted. The sources commented that Lenovo hopes the decision will help boost its netbook sales by avoiding the fierce competition in the 10-inch segment.
The IdeaPad S20 netbook with an Atom N280 processor and GN40 chipset, and Windows XP will be priced at around NT$20,000 (US$586), the sources detailed.
In the related news, Asustek Computer's 10-inch Atom N280-based Eee PC 1004DN is expected to be priced around US$379, while Acer is already selling its Atom N280-based netbook at NT$17,000.

The long awaited Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 laptop is finally starting to ship to its soon to be proud owners. Announced at CES 2009 as the world's thinest 16-inch entertainment notebook, IdeaPad Y650 combines almost everything you'd want to have in a notebook - extremely thin and clean design with carbon fiber parts, light weight, big screen, powerful hardware and fairly low cost.
Back to the interesting part, IdeaPad Y650 comes with two Intel Core 2 Duo CPU options - the 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 or the 2.40GHz P8600, both feature 1066MHz FSB and 3MB L2 cache. Video options include either an integrated Intel X4500 graphics or an NVIDIA GeForce G 105M GPU with 256MB dedicated RAM. Remaining specs include 3GB DDR3-8500 RAM (up to 4GB), 320GB 5400 rpm HDD, DVD writer, multi-touch track pad, Bluetooth, integrated 1.3MP webcam and a 6 Cell Lithium-Ion battery. All different versions ship with the same 16.0-inch TFT widescreen display with LED backlight, ambient light sensor and a 1366x768 maximum resolution. It is also worth mentioning that the sound system in IdeaPad Y650 is provided by JBL, featuring 2x 2W JBL speakers. The Lenvo IdeaPad Y650 is available now directly from Lenovo, with a starting price of $1,299.

NVIDIA is pushing the pace for graphics performance in mainstream notebooks with the announcement of the GeForce 100M Series of graphics processing units (GPUs). The NVIDIA GeForce 100M Series, which includes the GeForce G105M, the GeForce G110M and the GeForce GT 130M GPUs, meets the performance demands of today's visual computing applications. Whether you're viewing or editing photos, finding directions, playing a game, or watching a high definition movie, an NVIDIA GeForce 100M Series GPU makes your notebook run silky smooth, with amazing visuals.

The three new GeForce 100M Series GPUs each represent a significant performance increase in their respective segments. The GeForce G105M is over 55% faster than the previous NVDIA product in its segment, while the GeForce G110M is 35% faster than NVIDIA's previous mainstream GPU. The GeForce GT 130M is around 17% faster than its predecessor.

Lenovo today is bringing users the highest levels of mobile workstation innovation and performance with the introduction of the ThinkPad W700ds mobile workstation. The ThinkPad W700ds gives users prime screen real-estate as the first mobile workstation in the industry with two screens. Lenovo combines a new balance of unique design with complex engineering and unparalleled performance to give users in the most demanding of fields such as digital content creation, oil and gas exploration, computer-aided design and photography, the ultimate mobile workstation.

Lenovo today announced the latest additions to its Idea brand of personal computers for consumers. The new PCs push the envelope in the pursuit of thinner and more stylish designs, and combine these attributes with unique features like facial recognition and high-definition entertainment technologies to give consumers a computing experience like no other. There are four new IdeaPad laptops - the IdeaPad Y650, one of the thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptops1, the Y550 and Y450 laptops with a similar family design to the Y650, and one of the thinnest all-in-one desktop PCs, the IdeaCentre A6002. With the explosive growth of social networking, Lenovo also continues to enhance its IdeaPad S10 netbook with new instant on capability, facial recognition and easy access to Lenovo's social networking community.

Lenovo this weekend officially announced its ThinkPad W700ds (ds stands for dual-screen), a mobile workstation with two fully functional LCD displays. Inside and round the back of the main 17-inch display is housed a second one, 10.6-inch in diagonal that can also be tilted up to 30 degrees like a car's rearview mirror. The secondary WXGA display (768x1280), allows users to own a workstation notebook with dual-monitor support for the first time. Wes Williams, product marketing manager for ThinkPads, said: "People that use high-end computers, whether they are professional photographers or work in other fields, all use two displays at their desktops ... What we were trying to do in building a mobile workstation is give them the same experience. Not only do you need a great display, great graphics, great processor and RAID hard drive with a workstation, but it is hard going back to a single display mode." The Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds is said to make its first appearance at CES, starting January 5, 2008. Among the other cool features that will be integrated inside the W700ds are the latest Intel Core 2 Quad 45nm processors, NVIDIA Quadro mobile graphics, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, and a pair of hard drive/solid-state drive bays for up to 960GB of storage. The W700ds' starting price is expected to be $3,600 upon availability.

Absolute Software, Intel Corporation and Lenovo are bringing hardware-based anti-theft and computer-theft deterrence technology for notebook computers to businesses.

Select Lenovo ThinkPad T400 notebooks will be among the first notebooks to ship with support for Intel Anti-Theft PC Protection and Absolute Computrace technology built in. The new optional services will be available beginning in December.

Lenovo today introduced its "e" netbooks, the IdeaPad S9e and S10e netbooks. Designed for mobile users from all walks of life, the new netbooks combine the portability of a small and light PC device starting under 1.2kg with Internet and multimedia functionality at an affordable price.
"Our new IdeaPad S10e and S9e offer Lenovo's unmatched end user experience and quality to whole new set of users in the market place." said Vincent Fauquenot, VP Transactional Business, Lenovo EMEA. "With the new netbooks, Lenovo introduces a very attractive design, price point, and specification that delivers affordable mobile computing for families and professionals."

At the Interop show today, Lenovo announced the latest additions to its ThinkVision monitor portfolio that pioneer a new level of energy-efficiency for PC displays. Delivering outstanding performance, the new ThinkVision L1700p, L1940 Wide, L1940p Wide, L2240p Wide, L2440p Wide and L2440x Wide monitors use 30-60 percent less energy than previous ThinkVision models, are EPEAT Gold rated and GREENGUARD certified, and include packaging for select models with 65 percent recycled materials.

These portable computers that resemble portable desktop replacements are classified under the portable workstation category, being equipped with workstation-class hardware and features that make them great companions of engineers, architects, or scientists on field-work that need abundant computing power that's also portable. Lenovo released the W700 and W500 earlier this month. They are taking orders.

Lenovo this morning officially started selling its first netbook, the IdeaPad S10. The ultra-portable system will compete with the latest ASUS Eee PC and MSI Wind models, offering a 10-inch LED backlit LCD screen and Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor. Two configurations of the 2.4 pound S10 will be available initially, with 512MB RAM and 80GB HDD, and with 1GB RAM and 160GB of HDD space. Lenovo will sell the first one for $399 while the beefed-up version will sell for $449.99. Papers also indicate that both models will support 2GB of RAM, so upgrading the onboard memory won't be a problem. From the OS point of view, first S10 mini-laptops will be offered with Microsoft Windows XP preinstalled, but later on Lenovo will start offering Linpus Linux preloaded models too. View the full Lenovo S10 specs below the Read full story marker.

Lenovo today announced the availability of the IdeaPad U110 consumer notebook PC, the star of Lenovo's IdeaPad entertainment and fashion-oriented notebook collection and winner of three Best-of-Show awards at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Select models of the notebook will be available in red and black on Lenovo's website today.