X

CES: Lenovo unveils Windows 7 IdeaPad Slate

Seems like, suddenly, everyone's getting back on the Windows tablet wagon.

Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Scott Stein
Windows 7 slates, you're back: Lenovo's pad.
Windows 7 slates, you're back: Lenovo's pad. Scott Stein/CNET

LAS VEGAS--We thought we had seen everything Lenovo was ready to throw at us at CES 2011 in the laptop/tablet universe, but a surprise new addition was unveiled late last night: a Windows version of the LePad slate coming later this year, tentatively called the IdeaPad Slate.

The 10-inch tablet has nearly the same hardware design as the LePad, with different internal components: the same flash storage, but a next-gen Intel Atom CPU instead of the LePad's Qualcomm Snapdragon. The Windows tablet, at this point not officially named, has a stylus for pen input as well as multitouch, which works much like other digitizer pens we've seen (not pressure-based).

Unlike the Android-based LePad, the Windows slate won't work with the U1 Hybrid laptop. However, it does have a software user interface shell developed by Lenovo that's similar to the Skylight operating environment we saw on the LePad. The IdeaPad Slate has a USB port, HDMI, and an SD card slot, giving it a relatively full set of inputs.

The co-development of Android and Windows tablets shows one thing clearly: manufacturers are hedging their bets, and still don't know which way the tablet era will go.