Lenovo announces A10 Android laptop amid slumping PC sales
After unintentionally
leaking its existence, Lenovo has today officially announced the A10
Android laptop. It's the first laptop from the world's top PC vendor to
ship with Android 4.2 on board. As we learned before
the A10 features a 10.1-inch HD display, 1.6GHz process, up to 32GB of
storage, and a max 2GB of memory. That quad-core Cortex-A9 processor
allows the laptop the reach nine hours of video playback, according to
Lenovo's estimates.
Lenovo builds a file manager into Android
The A10's "laptop mode" brings
Lenovo's customized Android user interface to the forefront, including
an app launcher, task bar and status bar for "quick, intuitive access to
the app library and desktop." The company has also built file manager
software into the A10, which it claims "makes it easy to locate and
manage a library of documents, videos and music." Laptop mode also nets
users a full-size keyboard, though the A10 also accepts input via its
multitouch display. But the A10 can also be flipped around into a "stand
mode," which Lenovo says has been optimized for touch-enabled apps and
entertainment. Stereo speakers are there for your Spotify and Netflix
streaming, though don't expect to be taking many keepers with the
integrated 0.3-megapixel webcam.
Lenovo's Android laptop leaked
earlier this month when service manuals for the device appeared on the
company's website. A spokesperson would later confirm its existence,
though it's unclear how aggressively Lenovo plans to market the A10 — or
why interested customers won't opt instead for a Chromebook. But with
Windows PC sales slowing recently, we can't fault Lenovo for trying
something new. We've reached out to the company for pricing and
availability information.
Update: Lenovo tells us
that the A10 won't be made available within the US (or North America as a
whole). Instead, it will be sold in Europe, the Middle East, Africa,
and Asia Pacific countries. It's definitely a budget offering, with
pricing set to start around $249 USD equivalent.
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