Lenovo, the world’s fourth largest computer maker has just revealed details of their first Smartbook, and it doesn’t come with an Intel chip or a Microsoft Windows operating system either.
The Skylight as it is called, runs on Qualcomm Inc’s Snapdragon Chip, a chip that is also used in SmartPhones and the device is based on Linux.
It has a 10 inch screen with a 1,280 x 720 resolution; it has 20GB flash storage, 8GB miniSD card, and 2GB storage space in the cloud.
Lenovo are aiming the Skylight at people who just want to get online so it has built in Wi-Fi and 3G and onboard 1.3 megapixel webcam and apparently the Skylight will give you more than 10 hours battery life so that’s cool.
“The web has become the window to the world for more and more people, helping them connect with friends and family across town or thousands of miles away,” said Peter Gaucher, executive director, Mobile Internet Product Management, Lenovo.
“Skylight combines the long battery life and connectivity of a SmartPhone with the full web browsing and multimedia experience of a netbook to create one of the first devices in this developing Smartbook category. Consumers want choices. They can now choose from a full portfolio of Lenovo mobile consumer devices including netbooks, Smartbooks and laptops.”
Now there are only two hurdles that I can see to people taking up the Skylight. One is that some may be reluctant to run with Linux instead of Windows, however Lenovo have taken steps to make sure that it all runs smoothly and that the transition is painless.
“There is no exposure of Linux to the customers. What we wanted to make is an interface that’s completely custom and easy to use” says Ninis Samuel, Lenovo’s consumer marketing director.
Part of making it easy for you means you’ll also get a whole heap of web widgets to connect you quickly and easily to the likes of Gmail, Facebook and YouTube as well as more.
The other hurdle is the price. If you want to buy the Skylight outright then it’s a lot more expensive than what you’d expect to pay for a Netbook at around $499 so let’s hope it’s worth it.
The Skylight will be available in the US from April and in Europe and China later on in the year.
